Hebrews

The Bible's books, Old and New, are rich with scriptural questions, avenues for thought, wonder, and the challenge of sacred mystery.

Hebrews is an elegant and eloquently composed epistle establishing Jesus as Christ and King over Christianity, the Trinity realized, the Messianic promise fulfilled, for humankind's grace and redemption for all eternity.

Most Christians don't question Hebrews author as being Paul, the Pharisee disciple. But, there's some intrigue. Was this letter written by Paul, after all? A few inconsistencies emerge that seem historically incongruent.

First, there is no salutation at the start, as with every other Paul authorship to the earliest Church. The reference "To the Hebrews" appears in the earliest known copy, but it's not in the original manuscript. Odd. Even more puzzling, some read the letter's style as sounding very different from the other epistles, both in complexity of language and words used, tonal qualities, and the textual structure.

Some scholars suggest perhaps a more likely explanation that, yes, it may be Paul's original expressions, in some earlier form like a prepared sermon draft, then later transcribed by Luke. Which would make sense describing the strongly Greek usages and style of the Hebrews text.

Real mystery, or "much ado", it's always interesting to also study with a historical lense. Hebrews remains one of the most important encouragements to the faithful followers of Christ, and their steadfast, unwavering faith. These are my favorite words in Paul's letter:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

There is no more pure and comprehensive definition of the experiential essence of faith. It is a most beautiful thing, I believe.