Dreaming about Commentary Writing

Ken Schenck dreams about writing a commentary on Hebrews. Go for it, Ken!

Is Apostasy Possible For Christians?

Ben Witherington argues that Hebrews 6 does state that it is possible for Christians to fall away from the faith.

McCruden Reviews Vanhoye's Commentary

Kevin McCruden has sent along to me a link to a fresh review of Albert Vanhoye's commentary, The Letter to the Hebrews: A New Commentary.

When and Where Did Jesus Offer Himself?

This new article is worth checking out!:

Jamieson, R. B. “When and Where Did Jesus Offer Himself? A Taxonomy of Recent Scholarship on Hebrews.” Currents in Biblical Research 15.3 (2017): 338–68.

Abstract:
"This article surveys how recent scholarship answers the question, ‘According to Hebrews, when and where did Jesus offer himself?’ Much interest has been paid to this topic in the wake of David Moffitt’s 2011 monograph, but the debate is often framed in potentially reductionistic binary terms: either Hebrews depicts a sacrificial sequence beginning on the cross and culminating in heaven, or else Jesus’ ‘heavenly offering’ is a metaphor for the cross. By contrast, this article asks how scholars correlate three variables: Jesus’ death, offering, and entrance to heaven. It registers five answers that have been offered, explores the textual basis taken to support each, and articulates the issues which divide each view from the others. Further, the article surveys recent answers to two material questions that arise in the wake of this formal one. First, is Hebrews’ sacrificial theology coherent? Second, in Hebrews, is Jesus’ death atoning?"

Thanks to Bobby Jamieson for the heads up.

My Newest Acquisition

I only recently became aware of this work and have managed to find a used copy from Germany:

 Winter, Aloysius. Die überzeitliche Einmaligkeit des Heils im “Heute”: Zur theologie des Hebräerbriefes. Neuried: Ars Una, 2002.

Blurb translated from the back cover:

"The author examines the meaning of the words 'hapax' and 'ephapax' in Hebrews, which are usually translated as 'once for all' and understands them on the basis of their origin and context in the sense of 'once finally' and 'at once finally', which is of considerable importance for sacramental theology. It has been shown that, according to the Platonic-Philonic model, the symbolism of the last 'day' in the pointedly used 'today' presupposes a Greek understanding of time, which was abolished by the God-human act of salvation in the eternal today of God. Thus, the final uniqueness of the 'perfection' effected by Christ is clarified, which is accomplished in 'sanctification' by means of baptism, Eucharist, and other ways, by direct and common participation in the sacrifice which has happened historically and at the same time exists in his person."

Some New Articles and Essays on Hebrews

Here are some new articles and essays that I have come across in the blogosphere:

Samra, Jim. “Faith as an Epistemology: Hebrews 11:3 and the Origins of Life.” Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology 4.1 (2017): 1–12.
 -The whole journal is available for download.

Scott Mackie has made available his essay which is part of the recent festschrift for Gary Cockerill:

“‘Let us draw near . . . but not too near’: A Critique of the Attempted Distinction between ‘Drawing Near’ and ‘Entering’ in Hebrews’ Entry Exhortations,” in Listen, Understand, Obey: Essays on Hebrews in Honor of Gareth Lee Cockerill (ed. C.T. Friedeman; Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2017), 17–36.

The following essay has appeared in this collection on faith:

Benjamin Schliesser. "Glauben und Denken im Hebräerbrief und bei Paulus. Zwei frühchristliche Perspektiven auf die Rationalität des Glaubens." In Glaube: Das Verständnis des Glaubens im frühen Christentum und in seiner jüdischen und hellenistisch-römischen Umwelt. Edited byJörg Frey, Benjamin Schliesser, and Nadine Ueberschaer, with the collaboration of Kathrin Hager. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 373. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017.