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| Vol. 15 No. 5 May 2013 | Page 13 |
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| Vol. 15 No. 5 May 2013 | Page 13 |
Dean Kelly
It was practically unquestioned until sometime in the 1800s that the Bible Book of Hebrews is written by the apostle Paul. Some began to argue against his authorship, especially noting that it would be the only book in which he had no salutation of any kind. Many began to suggest that someone else wrote the book. Among many others, the names of Barnabas, James, Apollos and Luke have been mentioned as possible authors, if Paul did not write it. Many great scholars have debated this. Some adamantly say that there is plenty of evidence, despite some differences in style, that Paul is the author. Others say that it absolutely cannot be Paul. Still others say that they just do not know. In the face of all of this, I propose to give you the definitive answer. This is such a definitive answer that I would be willing to publicly debate to defend this position. It is that certain and sure.
Here it is, my absolutely definitive answer: The author of the Book of Hebrews is God. It was “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is a message sent from God and He is the true author. That word was revealed by the authority of Jesus Christ, as He promised the apostles that they would be guided into all truth, being taught what they needed to know, and being reminded of what they already knew (John 14:26; John 16:13). The Holy Spirit was the Agent by which God through Christ sent the message of the Book of Hebrews (John 16:13; 2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:22-23). The message was given to “earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7), or human beings to be written down. Some man was directed by the Holy Spirit to record these words of God that are the Book of Hebrews. Who the man was is of no real significance. The point is that he was guided by the Holy Spirit, and that he used words that came from God.
The finished product of this process, the Book of Hebrews, in conjunction with the rest of the Bible, is the inerrant Word of God. Peter was talking about the writings of the apostle Paul in 2 Peter 2:15-16, but what he wrote applies to all of the writings of the New Testament: “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation – as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” He refers to Paul’s writings and then compares them to what he calls “the rest of the Scriptures.” He understood that Paul’s writings, and his writings, and the writings of all of the others who wrote the New Testament, were Scripture.
I know that “scholars” like to argue and debate things like “who wrote Hebrews.” I am afraid, sometimes, if we are not careful, that we get to arguing over those matters and forget that the true Author is God. That is all that really matters. I am glad that there are great scholars, but I also am sometimes afraid that some scholars get so involved in being “scholarly” that they forget the basics. I am glad that there are great students of biblical languages, but sometimes I have seen such students get so caught up in the nuances of language, that they forget the simplicity of the message. It is God’s message; it is understandable, and it will stand every test of time (Matthew 24:35).
So, I know who the Author of Hebrews is – the same Author as the other 65 books of the Bible.
Chad Ezelle
I have no doubt that you will do good things today; it is what we do as Christians. However, let me encourage you to make sure there are no strings attached to the good you will do.
This was Jesus’ message in the Sermon on the Mount. Because we belong to Jesus, we should be doing good things to help others, knowing that they will never repay the good we do. Because of our Christianity, that should be fine by us.
Today, what kind of good will you do for others? If you are not content right now with not being repaid for it, what can you do to change that attitude today?