Impossible to Be Restored?

I was waiting to get a copy of the book to see if it was worth posting about. Turns out this is an academic treatment of the topics of temptation and apostasy in the Book of Hebrews. 

 

Marcus A. Mininger. Impossible to Be Restored? Temptation and Warning in the Epistle of Hebrews. New Studies in Biblical Theology 64. Apollos/B&H Academic, 2025.

 

"The letter to the Hebrews contains and engages with some of the most perplexing passages of Scripture. Temptation and apostasy provide one way of reading this New Testament book. This volume in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series examines the Letter to the Hebrews, what temptation its audience was facing, and what Hebrews meant when it warned that some who fall away cannot be restored to repentance."

 

 

The Letter to the Hebrews according to the Oldest Papyrus

I want to thank Jordi Cervera for the gift of this beautiful book:

 

Rodolf Puigdollers i Noblom and Jordi Cervera i Valls. La Carta als Hebreus segons el Papir Més Antic. Centre de Pastoral Litùrgica, 2025.

 

Translation of the blurb:

"The edition of the Letter to the Hebrews that we offer in this volume was born from the conviction that biblical texts should not only be read and meditated on, but that it is also appropriate to approach them materially in their manuscripts – nowadays accessible in digital form – and to feel, if possible, the texture and shapes of the papyrus or parchment, and enjoy their studied calligraphy. Likewise, to savor the words in their sonority and their semantic content. For these reasons, we have started from a specific manuscript: Papyrus 46, dated around the year 200 AD, which is the oldest preserved of the Letter to the Hebrews. The New Testament writing is considered a brilliant homily that stands out for its literary and theological excellence, good and offering a precious content that is worthy of deeper study. It is with this enthusiasm that we offer this volume to the reader, with the conviction that 'appreciating the text directly' will discover the light of the most primitive and simple faith, which presents, according to the most original confessions of faith, Jesus, the Son of God, as the one who is God and Lord."

 

The book contains full-color pictures of the Chester Beatty Papyrus (P46) with transcriptions of the text in Greek and facing translation in Catalan. It also has notes on the Greek text and a commentary. When I have more time I will post pictures and comment further on this book.

Hebrews at the 2025 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting

2025 SBL Annual Meeting
November 22–25, 2025

Boston, MA

S22-123
Hebrews Section
9:00 AM–11:30 AM
Marriott Copley Place - New Hampshire (Fifth Floor)
Open Session 1
Presider: Eric Mason (Saint Xavier University, Chicago)

Albert Coetsee, North-West University, South Africa
“Let All God’s Angels Worship Him”: The Entrance Motif in Hebrews 1:6b (30 min)

Michael Francis, The Catholic University of America
Figuring Ritual and Moral Impurity in Hebrews (30 min)
 

Carlos Garcia Alayon, University of Notre Dame
Heavenly Ritual in Hebrews: A Spectrum of Ritualized Behavior (30 min)

Biao Liu, Wheaton College
A “Heavenized” New Cosmos: Revisiting the Cosmic Eschatology of Hebrews 12:25–29 (30 min)

S22-204
Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Seminar
1:00 PM–3:30 PM

Analytical Seminar

This year’s analytical seminar features two commentators: Chris Holmes (Commentary on Hebrews) and Russ Sisson (Commentary on Q).
Presider: Donghyun Jeong (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary)
 

Christopher Holmes, First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
Commentary on Hebrews (40 min)

S22-214
Gospel of Luke Section and Hebrews Section
1:00 PM–3:30 PM
Hynes Convention Center - 104 (Plaza Level)

Hebrews and the Gospel of Luke: Exploring Common Themes
 

Amy Peeler, Wheaton College
The Humanity of the Son of God in Luke and Hebrews (30 min)
 

Nick Moore, Cranmer Hall, Durham University
The Event of the Ascension in Luke-Acts and Hebrews (30 min)
 

Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Chicago Theological Seminary
Mining the Maternal (30 min)
 

Julie Leyva, Duke University
Son of Adam, Son of God: Jesus the Son in Luke and Hebrews (30 min)
 

Panel Discussion (30 min)

S24-123
Homiletics and Biblical Studies Section
9:00 AM–11:30 AM

 

Kyoohan Lee, Liberty University John W Rawling School of Divinity
Rabbinic Rhetoric and Crescendo of Creation: Hermeneutical Rhetorical Interpretation and Homiletical Application of the Old Testament Citation Strategy in Hebrews 1:5–14

S24-226
Nature Imagery and Conceptions of Nature in the Bible Section
1:00 PM–3:30 PM

 

William Horst, Fuller Theological Seminary
Above and Below: The Terrestrial Sphere and the Epistle to the Hebrews (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Integrating Discussion (10 min)

S24-330
Hebrews Section
4:00 PM–6:30 PM
Marriott Copley Place - Arlington (Third Floor)
Open Session
Presider: Cynthia Westfall (McMaster Divinity College)

Marlon Lahope, Wheaton College
Constructing Identity, Creating Family: A Reading of Hebrews 2:5-18 in the Greco-Roman Context (30 min)

Daniel Smith, Saint Louis University
The Israelite Wilderness Generation as (Negative) Paradigm in Hebrews 4:11 (30 min)
 

Jihyung Kim, McMaster Divinity College
Situating the Heroes of Faith within Israel’s Wilderness: Hebrews 11 through the Lens of Social Memory (30 min)
 

Rebecca Muir, Ridley College Melbourne
The Perfection and Faithfulness of Jesus in Hebrews: Joining the Dots in Recent Scholarship (30 min)

George Guthrie, Regent College
Ordination as an Interpretive Frame of Reference in Hebrews (30 min)

S25-118
Intertextuality in the New Testament Section
9:00 AM–11:30 AM

Nicholas Mariakis, University of St Andrews
The Aqedah in Hebrews 11 and the Primary Colors of Resurrection in Genesis (30 min)

Hebrews at the Evangelical Theological Society 2025 Meeting

Evangelical Theological Society

November 18–20, 2025

Boston, MA

 

Tuesday

 

9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

General Epistles

 

9:50 AM - 10:30 AM
Herb Bateman
(Independent Scholar)
Is a Systematic Theological Understanding about the Holy Spirit imposed on Hebrews?

10:40 AM - 11:20 AM
Adam Harwood
(New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary)
The Relation of the Unpardonable Sin of the Gospels and Hebrews 6

9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

Church History

 

10:40 AM - 11:20 AM
Arthur Rankin
(New College, Edinburgh)
Christ the Fulfiller of the Covenant: Christology and Covenant in Calvin’s Hebrews Commentary

9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

Practical Theology

 

11:30 AM - 12:10 PM
Rebecca Muir
(Ridley College)
The Christian Community as a Resource for Suffering Christians in Hebrews

 

1:30 PM - 4:40 PM

Spiritual Formation/Sanctification

 

1:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Christy Gonet
(California Baptist University)
Holding Fast and Drawing Near: Sancti!cation in Hebrews

 

1:30 PM - 4:40 PM

Scriptural Use of Scripture

 

3:10 PM - 3:50 PM
George H. Guthrie
(Regent College)
Has Our ‘Reading Backwards’ Approach to Hebrews Been Framed?

1:30 PM - 4:40 PM

New Testament

Studies in Hebrews

Moderator: Charles Savelle
(Dallas Theological Seminary)

1:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Andrew Jennings
(Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Athens Meets Jerusalem: Melchizedek and a Biblical Model for Philosophical Theology
 

2:20 PM - 3:00 PM
Jihyung Kim
(McMaster Divinity College)
Why the Tabernacle, Not the Temple? Hebrews’ Strategic Use of Wilderness Memory
 

3:10 PM - 3:50 PM
Michael Cha
(Dallas Theological Seminary)
Hebrews 7-10 and Ezekiel’s Temple: An Originalist Exposition
 

4:00 PM - 4:40 PM
James N. Beevers
(Westminster Theological Seminary)
The Root of Apostasy: Hebrews 12 and the Reception of Deuteronomy 29:18–19

Wednesday

8:30 AM - 11:40 AM

African Biblical Studies

Reading Hebrews and 1 Peter from Majority World Perspectives

 

Moderator: Elizabeth Mburu
(Africa International University; Langham Publishing)
8:30 AM - 8:50 AM
Craig Keener
(Asbury Theological Seminary)
8:50 AM - 9:10 AM
Craig Blomberg
(Denver Seminary)
9:10 AM - 9:30 AM
Ahreum Kim
(University of Cambridge)
9:40 AM - 10:00 AM
Vuyani Sindo
(George White!eld College, Cape Town, South Africa)
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Miguel Echevarría
(Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Sofanit T. Abebe
(Trinity College Bristol, UK)
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Abeneazer G. Urga
(Evangelical Theological College; Ethiopian Graduate School
of Theology)
11:00 AM - 11:40 AM
Panel Discussion and Q&A

3:00 PM - 6:10 PM

New Testament Greek Language and Exegesis

 

3:00 PM - 3:40 PM
Adam Wiggins
(Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
God, Christ, and the Many Sons: A Linguistic Analysis of Sonship in Hebrews 2 and 12

Thursday

1:00 PM - 4:10 PM

A Response to Reading the General Epistles Missiologically

 

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM
Amy Peeler
(Wheaton College)
A Response to Reading Hebrews Missiologically

Encountering Jesus in the Book of Hebrews

Congrats to Mike on his recent publication:

Michael Kibbe. Life in a Lifeless World: Encountering Jesus in the Book of Hebrews. IVP Academic.

 

"Discover the Depth of the Book of Hebrews

In a world that often feels inhospitable to life, the original recipients of Hebrews found themselves struggling to maintain their faith against the pressures of doubt and despair. Likewise, modern believers face similar trials as they seek to live out their faith in a broken world.

Life in a Lifeless World is a deep exploration of the book of Hebrews, perfect for pastors, teachers, scholars, and lay readers seeking a deeper understanding of this complex epistle. Many Christians feel overwhelmed by Hebrews' intricate allusions to the Old Testament and its cryptic imagery, unsure of how to extract practical applications from its teachings. In Life in a Lifeless World, biblical scholar Michael Kibbe guides readers through these challenges with clarity and insight, bridging theological depth with meaningful, practical application.

Life in a Lifeless World demystifies Hebrews with accessible language and reflection questions ideal for sermon preparation or small group discussions. Discover how Hebrews invites us not only to survive but how to become conduits of Christ's life to those around us. This thought-provoking book promises to deepen your understanding of Hebrews and inspire you to live faithfully in today's challenging world.

What You'll Find

• Clear explanations of Hebrews’ complex themes and imagery
• Reflection questions ideal for personal study or group discussions
• Guidance for persevering in faith amid life's challenges
• Tools for applying Hebrews in sermons, small group discussions, or academic settings

Whether you're preparing a sermon, leading a class, or seeking personal spiritual growth, Life in a Lifeless World illuminates Hebrews with fresh clarity. Discover how Michael Kibbe reveals the book of Hebrews' message of perseverance and hope, and delve into this compelling epistle to explore both its meaning and powerful inspiration for living fully in a world that often feels lifeless. Begin your deep and rewarding exploration of Hebrews today!"

HT: Michael Kibbe