Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Hebrews Highlights December 2014

Paul Himes gives some recommendations for Resources for Studying and Teaching the Epistle to the Hebrews. However, he misidentifies the author of the WBC series, who is William Lane (not William Lane Craig). He does not mention another good conservative commentary: the one by Gary Cockerill in the NICNT series. I am puzzled why he identifies Lane's, and even Attridge's, commentary as secular. I would add Craig Koester's contribution to the Anchor Bible Commentary and David deSilva's contribution to the Social-Scientific Commentary series as top commentaries.

Peter Leithart opines about Atonement according to Hebrews. He also comments on the enigmatic passage, "We Have an Altar," in Hebrews 13:10–12.

Benesh Dissertation on Hebrews

I see that the latest Tyndale Bulletin (65.2) has a summary of Dana Benesh's  dissertation:

Dana Benesh. "Thomas Aquinas on Hebrews: The Excellence of Christ."

"Due to the influence of his two great Summae, Thomas Aquinas' reputation as a 'systematic' theologian far surpasses his reputation as a biblical exegete. Yet his commentaries merit attention due to Thomas' ability to explicate Scripture, his contributions to the development of exegesis, and the fact that his commentaries reflect the same doctrinal and theological concerns as his better-known works. An examination of Thomas Aquinas' commentary on Hebrews is worthwhile, given the growing interest in pre-modern exegesis as well as the priority that Thomas assigned to the epistle. Organizing the entire corpus of Scripture according to the purposes of God, Thomas orders the Old Testament books in regard to God as king or Father and the New Testament books in regard to Christ and the church. In Thomas' scheme, Hebrews comes immediately after the four gospels. Among all the epistles, Hebrews is preeminent, according to Thomas, because it reveals the power of the grace of Christ as head of the church. The aim of this dissertation is to understand and appreciate Thomas' exposition of Hebrews in the context of his theological works and in the context of medieval exegesis."

Dana is a former colleague of mine at Baylor. I had not heard the news, so congratulations to her!