Over the years I have had many discussions on whether the Apostle
Paul was the author of the book of Hebrews.
I thought it was time I finally tackled this subject. in my blog. So join me as we look through the Bible in
search of an answer to this mystery.
Theologically speaking, scholars generally regard the book of
Hebrews to be second in importance only to Paul's letter to the Romans in the
New Testament. No other book so
eloquently defines Christ as high priest of Christianity, superior to the
Aaronic priesthood, and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.
The title, "To the Hebrews" appears in the
earliest known copy of the epistle. But
it is not found in the original manuscript.
There is no salutation, the letter simply begins with the assertion that
Jesus, the Son of God, has appeared, atoned for our sins, and is now seated at
the right hand of God in heaven. (See Hebrews 1:1-4)
The letter closes with the words "Grace be with you
all" (Hebrews 13:25), which is the same closing found in each of Paul's
known letters. (See Romans 16:20; 1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 13:14;
Galatians 6:18; Ephesians 6:24; Philippians 4:23, etc.)
In the earliest manuscript editions of the New Testament books,
Hebrews is included after Romans among the books written by the apostle Paul. This was taken as evidence that Paul had
written it, and some Eastern churches accepted Hebrews as canonical earlier
than in the West. Until the 1800s, that issue was closed. However, though a vast majority of
Christians—both scholars and lay people—still believe Paul wrote the book,
there are some tempting reasons to think otherwise:
1) The principle reason is the lack of a greeting.
Some sort of personal greeting from Paul appears in all of his
letters. So it would seem that writing
anonymously is not his usual method
2) The overall composition and style is of a person who is a very
sophisticated writer.
Even though he was certainly a sophisticated communicator, Paul
stated that he purposely did not speak with a commanding vocabulary. (See 1
Corinthians 1:17; 2:1; 2 Corinthians 11:6)
3) The book of Hebrews quotes extensively from the Old Testament.
Paul, as a Pharisee, would have been familiar with the Scripture
in its original Hebrew language. In
other letters, Paul either quotes the Masoretic Text (the original Hebrew) or
paraphrases it. However, all of the
quotes in this epistle are taken out of the Septuagint (the Greek Old
Testament), which is inconsistent with Paul's usage.
4) Paul was an apostle who claimed to receive his revelations
directly from the Lord Jesus (See 1 Corinthians 11:23; Galatians 1:12).
5) The writer of Hebrews specifically says that he was taught by
an apostle (See Hebrews 2:3)
If Paul didn't write the letter, who did? The most plausible suggestion is that this
was actually a sermon Paul gave and it was transcribed later by Luke, a person
who would have had the command of the Greek language which the writer shows. Barnabas is another likely prospect, since he
was a Levite and would have been speaking on a subject that he knew much about.
Martin Luther suggested Apollos, since he would have had the
education the writer of this letter must have had. Both Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 150–215) and
Origen (AD 185–253) claimed a Pauline association for the book but recognized
that Paul himself probably did not put pen to paper for this book. They did not appear to know the author’s name.
However, there is still much evidence that Paul wrote the letter. The most compelling comes from Scripture
itself:
1) Remember that Peter wrote to the Hebrews. (That is, the Jews;
see Galatians 2:7, 9 and 1 Peter 1:1)
Peter wrote, “Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation,
just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.”
(2 Peter 3:15) In that last verse, Peter
is confirming that Paul had also written a letter to the Hebrews!
2) The theology presented in Hebrews is consistent with Paul's.
Paul was a proponent of salvation by faith alone (See Ephesians
2:8, 9), and that message is strongly communicated in Hebrews.
3) Either Paul wrote the epistle, or the writer was trained by Paul.
4) Although it is a small detail, this epistle makes mention of
Timothy (See Hebrews 13:23), and Paul is the only apostle known to have ever
done that in any letter.
So, who actually wrote Hebrews?
The letter fills a needed space in Scripture and both outlines our
faith and defines faith itself in the same way that Romans defines the tenets
of Christian living. It closes the
chapters of faith alone and serves as a prelude to the chapters on good works
built on a foundation of faith in God. In short, this book belongs in the
Bible.
Therefore, its human author is unimportant. What is important is to treat the book as
inspired Scripture as defined in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Holy Spirit was the divine author of
Hebrews, and of all Scripture, even though we don't know who put the physical
pen to the physical paper and traced the words.
So if you are ever asked about the authorship of Hebrews,
the correct answer is well expressed by the church father Origen (AD
185 – 253), who said, according to Eusebius, “Who wrote the epistle of Hebrews?
In truth, only God knows!” 1
As always, I highly recommend that you
do your own research on the topic. I
have included additional scriptures to guide you.
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