My Response to Felix Cortez’ Review of My Book

Felix Cortez’ review of my book has recently appeared on the RBL website. In his critique of my book, he says that I failed to uncover the story world of Hebrews. However, it was not my intent to uncover the entire story world of Hebrews except for that part of the story world which was pertinent to revealing the character of Jesus. The story world of Hebrews also “includes the stories of the OT . . . as well as the story of the community to which the author was writing” as I note on page 204 in my book. Ken Schenck has already attempted to uncover the story world behind Hebrews in his popular introduction Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story behind the Sermon. Cortez notes that I trace the characterization of Jesus in the argument of Hebrews, not its story world, in chapter 5 of my book. But I do reconstruct part of the story world of Hebrews in chapter 4 of my book.

Cortez takes issue with some of my reconstruction of the chronology of Jesus’ life. At the time I was writing my dissertation I did associate the cleansing of sins and atonement with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Certainly there are those who contend that the cleansing of sins and atonement is not completed until after Jesus enters heaven and offers his blood. This interpretation has certainly come to the fore with the publication of David Moffitt’s monograph Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews. I think Hebrews can lend itself to either interpretation and hence this remains a contested issue in Hebrews’ study.

Cortez, I think, wrongly critiques me on his next point: “it is difficult to understand why the submission of the enemies under Jesus—or submission of all things—is included in the list before his appointment as high priest.” He contends that the submission of enemies should be listed after his appointment as high priest. I, in fact, do not believe that the submission of enemies takes place before his appointment as high priest. As I note before compiling the chronology, “a strict chronological framework is impossible since many of the deeds occur simultaneously” (p. 203). It is impossible to narrative simultaneously deeds that take place simultaneously. If two things happen at the same time, one can only describe one thing and then the other. I connect the submission of Jesus’ enemies with Jesus’ enthronement as king, not with his appointment as high priest. Hence, on page 205 I describe all the events associated with his enthronement first, and then I describe the events associated with his high priesthood second. I do say “simultaneously with his enthronement, Jesus was also appointed as high priest” (p. 205). The submission of enemies takes place after Jesus’ enthronement and his appointment as high priest.

Cortez then remarks in the next sentence: “There is, however, the more fundamental question whether this reconstructed story of Jesus is coterminous with the story behind Hebrews or just a part of it.” I take it, then, that Cortez believes that the story of Jesus is coterminous with the story world of Hebrews. I, however, take the story of Jesus as only part of the larger story world that lies behind Hebrews. His suggestion in the penultimate paragraph certainly points to further avenues for exploration.

First Review of My Book

Well, the first review of my book is in, and it is very favorable. Thanks to Kevin Brown for the review.

They Finally Arrived!

My Book Is Now Published!

At the beginning of this month, I received word from Brill that my book, The Characterization of Jesus in the Book of Hebrews, has now been published and is available for purchase.

"In The Characterization of Jesus in the Book of Hebrews Brian Small applies the tools of literary and rhetorical criticism to reconstruct the author of Hebrew’s portrayal of Jesus’ character. The author of Hebrews uses a variety of literary and rhetorical devices in order to develop his characterization of Jesus. The portrait that emerges is that Jesus is a person of exemplary character, who exhibits both divine and human character traits. Some of the traits reveal Jesus’ greatness while others reveal his moral excellence. Jesus’ exemplary character plays a prominent role in the author’s argument and has profound implications for his audience. Jesus’ character produces many benefits for his followers and his character entails certain obligations from his followers."

The book tries to make a contribution to the study of Hebrews in a number of ways:

In chapter 1, I try to situate my study within the context of previous research on Hebrews. In my survey, I tried to include every study that takes a rhetorical or narratival approach to Hebrews. Most of these works are included in the footnotes of the book. Basically, anyone who wants to take a rhetorical or narratival approach to Hebrews will want to consult my book for the works that I include in my survey. I also tried to situate my study within the context of previous christological studies of Hebrews. However, the number of works dealing with Christology in Hebrews was too numerous to include everything. Instead, I tried to outline four basic approaches that have been taken towards the Christology of Hebrews and tried to give representative examples of each.

In chapter 2, I survey the modern literary theory and practice of characterization. I begin with my own definition of character based on my study of literary theory. I then provide a comprehensive survey of the modern literary theory and practice of characterization. My advisor, Mikeal Parsons, told me it was the best survey he has read on the topic. In the chapter I also briefly discuss the ancient literary theory of characterization. I argue that ancient theory of characterization was well-developed not in literary theory, but in rhetorical theory.

In chapter 3, I then develop a comprehensive overview of the theory and practice of characterization in the ancient Greco-Roman rhetorical handbooks, highlighting the various rhetorical techniques that were used in the characterization of persons. Among other things, I argue that Hebrews uses a form of prosopopoiea/ethopoeia when it places Scripture quotations into the mouths of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. While there have been a couple of works that have argued this, no one has made a case for it to the extent that I do in my book. In the course of the chapter I make a modest proposal about the rhetorical genre of Hebrews. At the end of chapter I conclude with a synthesis that shows the affinity between modern literary theory and ancient rhetorical theory and I demonstrate briefly how Hebrews makes use of literary and rhetorical devices in order to characterize Jesus.

In chapter 4, I present a comprehensive reconstruction of the characterization of Jesus in Hebrews. I arrange the chapter according to the relevant encomiastic topics employed by the author of Hebrews. I reveal the portrait of Jesus, highlighting the various character traits that emerge from the assorted techniques employed in Hebrews.

In chapter 5, I explore the role of the author's characterization of Jesus in the overall argument of Hebrews. I engage in a sequential reading of Hebrews indicating how the emerging portrait of Jesus contributes to the development of the author's argument in the book. I conclude with an examination of the signficance of the character of Jesus for the audience. Jesus' character brings many benefits but it also entails many obligations from the audience.

Obviously, it remains for the scholarly guild to decide whether I have been successful in my contribution to the study of the book of Hebrews.