Day: January 3, 2023

200s - Religions/Sacred Texts, 220s - The Bible, 225 - The New Testament, 227 - Epistles, Adult Literature, Audiobooks, Nonfiction, Returning SRC, Sacred Texts 2022, SRC 2022, Starlight Book Reviews, Stellar Reading Challenges

Starlight Book Review – Epistle to the Hebrews

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Image representing the Epistle to the Hebrews on a dark blue background with the Starry Night Elf avatar in the lower righthand corner | Source of Image: Building on the Word other image © Starry Night Elf

Part of a series of Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) on New Testament (NT) Books of the Bible. Click here to see other NT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 Since scholars dispute the authorship of The Epistle to the Hebrews, I decided to post an SBR just for this book alone. Authorship aside, I feel Hebrews stands on its own in numerous ways.

“The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books of the New Testament… The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and some of the Old Latin manuscripts have the epistle to the Hebrews among Paul’s letters.However, doubt on Pauline authorship in the Roman Church is reported by Eusebius. Modern biblical scholarship considers its authorship unknown, written in deliberate imitation of the style of Paul, with some contending that it was authored by Priscilla and Aquila… … Some scholars believe it was written for Jewish Christians who lived in Jerusalem. Its essential purpose was to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. At this time, certain believers were considering turning back to Judaism (the Jewish system of law) to escape being persecuted for believing Christ to be the messiah. The theme of the epistle is the doctrine of the person of Christ and his role as mediator between God and humanity.”

Hebrews tells Jews that they, too, can be Christians. The anonymous writer relates how Jesus, is the messiah that God promised the Hebrew people, the one the Jews seek. I found this book spoke to all, particularly those who grew up in homes adherent to Judaism or Christianity. Yes, Jesus came to save the Jews and the Gentiles.

Here’s a verse from both Hebrews:

1  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

* Bible Verses came from the New International Version (NIV) Bible, courtesy of Bible Gateway. Access Bible Gateway by clicking here.

Select Bibliography

“Letter to the Hebrews | New Testament”. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Jobes, Karen H. (April 17, 2017). “Who Wrote the Book of Hebrews?”. Zondervan Academic.