Hebrews' Relationship to Second Temple Judaism

A link to this dissertation has been added to the Theses and Dissertations page:

Strickland, Phillip David. “Pro Hebraious: The Epistle to the Hebrews and Its Relationship to Second Temple Judaism.” PhD diss., McMaster Divinity College, 2019.

Rest, Rhetoric, and Suffering in Hebrews

A recent doctoral dissertation that is available on the internet:

Ngama, Dickson Kûng’û. “Rest, Rhetoric, and Suffering in the Letter to the Hebrews: How the Author of Hebrews Uses Classical Rhetoric to Resolve Tension between Invitation to God’s Rest and Present Suffering.” PhD diss., Rawlings School of Divinity, 2024.

HT: Lee Zachary Maxey

Articles on Hebrews from Africa

The following article recently came out:

Urga, Abeneazer G. “The Victorious High Priest in the AfricanContext: Christ and the Logic of Atonement in Hebrews 2:14–18.” Stellenbosch Theological Journal 10.2 (2024): 1–24.

 

Abstract:

"Scholars have proposed several atonement theories to describe what Christ has achieved through the incarnation, particularly through his death—Recapitulation, Example, Moral Influence, Ransom, Christus Victor, Penal Substitution, and Government theories. However, the discussion of atonement theories reveals that scholars favour and advocate for one theory. The Christus Victor and Penal Substitutionary atonement theories are often pitted against each other. This article examines Hebrews 2:14–18, using a historical, grammatical, and literary method. The passage depicts Jesus’s sacrificial death for the sins of God’s people and his victory over the devil and death through his incarnation. Contrary to the common tendency of scholars to pit the Christus Victor model and Christ’s atoning substitution against each other, in the present pericope, the author of Hebrews illustrates the integration of Christus Victor and substitutionary atonement theories as complementary aspects of Jesus’s incarnation. The article also showcases the integration of victory and sacrifice in African Christian songs that perceive Jesus as a victorious High Priest who died as a substitute and freed his people from the domination of the devil and death. The article proposes that the Christus Victor and Penal Substitutionary atonement models are not mutually exclusive but should be understood synergistically."

 

Links to this article, along with the following articles will be added to the articles page:

Steyn, G. J. “Die vita Christiana volgens Hebreërs 10:19–25: Eksegetiese kantaantekeninge.” Dutch Reformed Theological Journal/Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskriff 48 (2007): 612–20.

Jones, M. “Calvin and His Puritan Heirs on Christ’s Humanity in Hebrews.” Dutch Reformed Theological Journal/Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif 54.1 (2013): 59–69.

Boaheng, Isaac. “A Soteriological Reflection on Priestly Christology from an Akan Perspective.” Stellenbosch Theological Journal 9.1 (2023): 1–18.

 

Article on Hebrews from Ukraine

Here is an article from Ukraine:

Lukin, Volodymyr. “Why Did Jesus Suffer ‘Outside the Gates’ and not ‘Outside the Camp’? The Theological Significance of the Two Place-Spaces in Hebrews.” Analecta of the Ukrainian Catholic University 11 (2024): 7–51.

 

Abstract:
"This article seeks to identify a single source of intertextual connection that has been influential in forming theological statements about Christ’s death in Heb 13:12 in terms of spatial-topological theology. It reexamines and evaluates the theological approaches to the interpretation of place-space indicators such as “outside the gates” and “outside the camp”. For the first time in studies of this kind, the differences in the soteriological and eschatological scenarios associated with the choice of the respective backgrounds are pointed out, and the practical implications of these differences are outlined. The motive that led the apostle Paul to use the language of a specific Old Testament background, with the help of which he recorded the true reality and its intentionality, was made explicit. It has been shown that the rituals of Yom Kippur are not the hermeneutical context of the indicators mentioned and cannot serve as an interpretive axiom. In turn, this has shed light on the negative consequences of imposing the Day of Atonement motif not only for the contents of Heb 13:12, but for the whole document. Certainly, this approach to dealing with the crucial informative aspects in this Exhortation to Hebrews, is evidence of the domination of academic thinking by fixed theological motivations, and within the boundaries of a particular scholarly trend. It has been exegetically argued that the ritual activity of the daily service in the earthly Tabernacle, is regarded as a non-alternative outline in the explication of the cumulative features of the informative constituents in Heb 13:12. In general, this made it possible not only to coordinate the vector of interpretation of the soteriological component with the intentions of the author of the document, but also to determine how the identified data, outline the contours of the practical life of church members, forming their doctrinal-worldview horizon."

 

Thanks to Vladimir for the tip.