Category Archives: Bible

I immediately noticed something different about Hebrews. It is glaringly obvious after reading the first four verses. There is no attribution for the author. I did a quick scan through the epistle to see who the author was, but there simply isn’t an attribution. Who wrote this letter? After reading the first chapter a couple of times, I have to think it isn’t Paul. It’s tone and rhythm don’t feel like any of Paul’s letters I’ve read up to this point. And the author isn’t talking about his importance in the church, which Paul did frequently.

This was a puzzle that I had to have the answer for, of course. After all, if I am going to trudge through 13 chapters in a letter, I’d better damned well know who wrote the thing. It’d be silly of me to read and write about an anonymous letter. Who’d be that foolish?

Whenever I need a fast answer or some basic research, I turn to Wikipedia. There is, of course,an article about the Epistle to the Hebrews. And for authorship of Hebrews, Wikipedia helpfully informed me that the authorship of the epistle is not known. It is an anonymous letter which, for some reason, was added as biblical canon. Apparently pretty much anyone could write a letter and get it into the bible back then.

Sorta sounds like Wikipedia, now that I think about it.

Irony!

The Epistle To the Hebrews

Chapter 1

Well, we don’t have Paul here to tell us how great he is, and how much he rejoices for having the receiver be faithful. Instead, the anonymous author decides to annoy Unitarians by making a distinct difference between God and Jesus. The author states that Jesus was the most important of all things in the universe, loved by God as His son. Sitting at god’s right hand. God did not bestow such honors on any angels or anything else he created.

From the narrative told throughout, from the Gospels through this point, I’ve gotta say that Jesus and God are separate entities. Sorry, Unitarians!

Chapter 2

You know, I am always amused when something in the bible contradicts with something else. Normally, those contradictions are done within different books, which one can understand. It’s not abnormal for two people to see things slightly differently. Or to have a different point of view months or years down the road than you have now. It’s not often when there are contradictions within the same book, though. Even rare than that: contradictions within a chapter of each other. Yet that is exactly what we see here. Compare and contrast;

Hebrews 1:5 “[He] became as much superior to the angels…”
Hebrews 2:9 “we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus…”

I am sure that someone somewhere will explain to me exactly why these two contradictory statements actually aren’t contradicting themselves at all. Until then, though, it seems contradictory to me.

Oh, the rest of the chapter can be summed up fairly quickly: Jesus is salvation, god has put everything under Jesus’s feet. God’s children will have to suffer, but this will help perfect their salvation, since Jesus also suffered. And Jesus did not come to save the angels, but “Abraham’s descendants.” ‘cuz apparently this unknown author is biased against Gentiles.

Up next: Hebrews are Jews? I knew that! Seriously….

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Tuesday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.

A one chapter book? The hell you say! There have been a couple of books in the New Testament that seemed out of place. But none so far afield as Philemon. Why in the world is there a one-chapter letter in the New Testament? Especially since the crux of the letter is one of Paul’s best friends? I seriously cannot see anything in this letter that ties into Christianity at all. Nor anything in this letter that could inspire Christians. Nor instruct Christians about how Paul believes they should lead their lives.

It seems that there’s a very good reason I can’t recall hearing or reading anything about this letter before this project. I see absolutely no reason at all to waste your time reading this. It is a short letter, though, so if you have 30 seconds and the desire to be bored (and possibly confused), give it a read.

Epistle to Philemon

Chapter 1

Even weirder, there is one topic to the letter: Onesimus. Paul considers Onesimus a son, and asks Philemon to take Onesimus in. Paul states that this isn’t a command, but it sure reads like one to me. Paul does go the dickish route (“I will not mention to you that you owe me your very life.”) and the pleading route (“I prefer to make my appeal on the basis of love…”) There’s no doubt, though, that Paul isn’t asking.

Conclusion

Ayup, that was very, very weird

Up next: Hebrews, giving someone besides Paul a chance

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Tuesday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.

I am on to Paul’s tricks. Before the letters to Timothy, I would’ve expected this letter to be written by Titus. But Timothy taught me that these letters are still from Paul, and the book names are who Paul was writing to. I probably should’ve known better, since, for example, Romans was a letter from Paul to the Romans. There’s a difference, though, in a book named for a church compared to a book named for an individual person.

Or at least that’s the excuse I’ll hide behind

2 Timothy ended with Paul describing the end-times and his sense of impending doom. Paul was expecting both the end of the world, and his own death. In that order. Will Titus continue on this theme?

Epistle of Paul to Titus

Chapter 1

Paul apparently abandoned Titus in Crete, leaving Titus to stay with the church in Crete so Paul could go forth and appoint elders in every city. Paul lays the same qualifications that an elder needs to meet, and they match exactly what Paul listed to Timothy. They are also just as boring. [yawn]

Paul warns Titus of people who will try and corrupt believers. Oddly enough, Paul explicitly lists Jewish converts among those who must be watched. These converts can apparently ruin whole families, all for the love of money. And we have been told by Christ himself that the love of money is the root of all evil. Apparently that holds true even in the early Christians. And really, why would they be exempt?

Oh, Paul gives a little more detail for the myths he warned about in 2 Timothy. Apparently these are Jewish myths, and they can indeed lead people away from the gospel. These people deny god by their actions, even though they say that they believe.

Chapter 2

This is Paul’s standard exhortation for how Christians should live. Men should be patient and reverent, women should be submissive, slaves should obey their masters. We’ve heard all of this multiple times already. Moving on…

Chapter 3

Paul gives another list – this book could be titled Lists! – this time about how Christians should behave. Lord I wish that today’s Christians actually lived by these traits. Christians are not supposed to insult anyone. They are not to be argumentative. They should be gentle and be courteous to all. Amen to that!

Conclusion

Wow, this book is already over. Hooray for brevity!

Up next: The most forgettable book in the New Testament

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Tuesday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.