"The Day of Atonement as a hermeneutical key to the understanding of Christology in Hebrews." (original) (raw)
Related papers
Hebrews’ High Priestly Christology: Models, Method and Aim
Religions, 2021
This article suggests a systematic analysis of the ways the author of the Letter to the Hebrews links Christ and the sacrificial system, exploring the author’s method of using the sacrificial system in his Christology. It points to the issues in which Hebrews embraces traditional Jewish cultic ideas and—building on these basics—those in which Hebrews greatly diverges and modifies high priestly features. The manner in which the author bases his Christology on the sacrificial cult shows that he acknowledges the efficacy of the high priest and sacrifices for contending with sin. Even when modifying the priestly cult to show that Christ’s atonement is superior to, and takes the place of, the Temple cult, he bases himself on the fundamentals of the high priest entering the Holy of Holies with blood. He uses the sacrificial cult as a model for Christology, like a map for navigating Christ’s doctrine of salvation. It is suggested that Hebrews’ aim is to make sense of Jesus’ death and atone...
Current atonement debates usually revolve around models and metaphors (Christus victor, penal substitution, etc.). However, another lesser-known debate regarding the sequence of the atonement has raged at least since Faustus Socinus argued in 1578 that Christ accomplished atonement not on the cross, but via his post-resurrection appearance and self-offering in heaven. This debate, moreover, has received new life in the recent work of David Moffitt (Atonement and the Logic of the Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews; 2011), who adheres closely to the Socinian view. For those seeking to close the gap between biblical and theological scholarship, both Socinus’s anti-Trinitarian approach and Moffitt’s narrowly historical approach remain problematic even though they present strong arguments for their interpretation of particular texts. What is needed, then, is an appraisal of the Socinian perspective that takes their exegesis seriously but does so in conversation with the broader New Testament witness and its theological implications. This essay puts both exegetical and theological questions on display; it does not attempt to answer all of these questions, but rather suggests a number of ways in which the next phase of the discussion ought to engage them.
The Contribution of Hebrews to New Testament Christology
This essay attempts an exegesis of some of the key Christological texts in the Epistle to the Hebrews in order to sketch the author’s Christology. The challenging introductory questions relating to the Epistle’s composition are largely avoided; the exegetical method instead focuses on context, grammar and syntax, and intertextuality. Competing scholarly viewpoints are presented and weighed. Particular emphasis is placed on the exordium (Hebrews 1:1-4), the catena of scriptural quotations (Hebrews 1:5-14), the discussion of Christ’s humanity (Hebrews 2:6-18), the comparison of Christ with Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6), and the enigmatic comparison of Christ with Melchizedek (Hebrews 7). Other Christologically significant texts discussed more briefly include Hebrews 4:15-16, Hebrews 5:7-9, Hebrews 9:15-16, Hebrews 10:5-10, and Hebrews 13:8. The conclusion drawn from the study is that the author of Hebrews regarded Jesus as the pre-existent, divine Son of God who became incarnate to deal with sin and was exalted by God for his faithfulness unto death. By its dual emphasis on Christ’s divinity and humanity, Hebrews provides the raw materials for later Chalcedonian orthodoxy, although it does not develop these concepts or attempt to resolve the tension between them.
Andrews University Seminary Studies, 2020
The epistle to the Hebrews presents a rich Christology articulated in dialogue with the OT. This article assumes that the dogmatic potential of Hebrews should enrich the architecture of systematic theology. Accordingly, the study aims at identifying how the conceptual articulation of the Christology of Hebrews contributes to the theology of Christ's threefold office. To achieve this goal, the article dialogues with categories of the munus triplex (Christ's threefold office): prophet, priest, and king. After a short description of these categories in Christian theology, the study undertakes a systematic reading of Hebrews by first outlining its material contribution to Christology. Then, the article seeks to uncover the formal contribution of Hebrews by exploring how it conceptually uses the OT to articulate its Christological content. The thesis of the article is that the material and the formal dimensions of the Christology of Hebrews enrich the theology of Christ's threefold office. The conclusions of the study suggest that Christ's kingship and priesthood are the ontological content of his eschatological revelation, which is broadly conceived as the prophetic aspect of the munus triplex and is taken as the epistemological principle that expands the meaning of Christ's life and work.
This paper is a summary of the theology of the Letter to the Hebrews. It was written in 1997 for a course taught by Gordon Fee at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada.
A new and living way: Atonement and the logic of resurrection in the epistle to the Hebrews
2010
The New Testament book known as the epistle to the Hebrews contains little obvious reference to Jesus' resurrection. Modern interpreters generally account for this relative silence by noting that the author's soteriological and christological concerns have led him to emphasize Jesus' death and exaltation while ignoring, spiritualizing, or even denying his resurrection. In particular, the writer's metaphorical appeal to the Yom Kippur sacrifice, with its dual emphasis on the slaughter of the victim and the presentation of the victim's blood by the high priest, allows him to explain the salvific significance of Jesus' death and exaltation. The crucifixion can be likened to the slaughter of the victim, while Jesus' exaltation in heaven can be likened to the high priest entering the holy of holies. In this way the cross can be understood as an atoning sacrifice. Such a model leaves little room for positive or distinct reflection on the soteriological or christological significance of the resurrection. This study argues that the soteriology and high-priestly Christology the author develops depend upon Jesus' bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven. The work begins with a survey of positions on Jesus' resurrection in Hebrews. I then present a case for the presence and role of Jesus' bodily resurrection in the text. First, I demonstrate that the writer's argument in Heb 1-2 for the elevation of Jesus above the angelic spirits assumes that Jesus has his humanity-his blood and flesh-with him in heaven. Second, I show that in Heb 5-7 the writer identifies Jesus' resurrection to an indestructible life as the point when Jesus became a high priest. Third, I explain how this thesis makes v coherent the author's consistent claims in Heb 8-10 that Jesus presented his offering to God in heaven. I conclude that Jesus' crucifixion is neither the place nor the moment of atonement for the author of Hebrews. Rather, in keeping with the equation in the Levitical sacrificial system of the presentation of blood to God with the presentation of life, Jesus obtained atonement where and when the writer says-when he presented himself in his ever-living, resurrected humanity before God in heaven. Jesus' bodily resurrection is, therefore, the hinge around which the high-priestly Christology and soteriology of Hebrews turns.
Echoes of the Most Holy: The Day of Atonement in the Book of Revelation
2022
The Day of Atonement was a day of rest, penitence, and purification for Israelites of loyal character. On this day, sins and impurities that had accumulated throughout the year were removed from the tabernacle by the application of sacrificial blood to its altars and compartments and transferred by the high priest’s confession onto the goat for Azazel, which carried them to the desert. Israel was thus rendered “clean” before the Lord, ensuring that he would continue to dwell in their midst. As it became ingrained in the veil of Jewish consciousness, the Day of Atonement underwent a process of reflection and reimagination as shown in Second Temple literature, where Azazel plays a significant eschatological ro le. Arriving in New Testament times, the day's imagery and typology presented irresistible motifs which its authors used to proclaim Jesus Christ's atoning death and heavenly intercession on behalf of believers. By utilizing a coherent intertextual approach, this book explores how John wove the Day of Atonement into the colorful literary tapestry of Revelation.