The following papers on Hebrews will be delivered at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, which will be done virtually this year:
P1-104
Institute for Biblical Research
12/01/2020
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Theme: Research Group - The Relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament
Ben Ribbens, Trinity Christian College
Hebrews as Participatory Exegesis of the Old Testament (20 min)
Accepted paper for the IBR Research Group on The Relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
S2-213
Theological Interpretation of Scripture / HebrewsJoint Session With: Hebrews, Theological Interpretation of Scripture
12/02/20201:00 PM to 3:00 PMTheme: Theological Interpretation of the Book of Hebrews
Madison N. Pierce, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Presiding
Michael J. Rhodes, Union University
On the Road to Perfection: Divine and Human Agency, Moral Transformation, and the Epistle to the Hebrews (25 min)
God’s transformation of believers constitutes a
major theme in the epistle to the Hebrews. The author speaks of
Christians being brought to glory (cf. 2:10), being made holy (cf.
10:14), having the Lord’s laws written on their hearts and minds (cf.
10:16), having their consciences sprinkled clean (cf. 10:22), being
purified (cf. 10:22), and, perhaps most strikingly, moving on to
“perfection” or “maturity” (cf. 5:14-6:1). Such transformation frees
God’s people from acts that lead to death so that they might minister to
the living God (9:14).
Divine agency is thus emphasized in this process of human
transformation, but, intriguingly, human acts of moral and spiritual
formation also play an essential and constitutive role in the process.
The perfection that the author ascribes to Christ-followers is both gift
and human task: the author calls the audience to move on to
perfection/maturity (Heb 5:14, 6:1); speaks of the “training” that leads
to moral discernment (5:14) and the “discipline” that allows for
sharing in God’s holiness and produces righteousness in those trained by
it (12:10); and calls the audience to pursue the very holiness that we
might otherwise have thought was simply a gift to be passively received
(12:14). Hebrews insists, in other words, that humans participate in
God’s transformation through exercising their renewed human agency in
concrete acts of moral and spiritual formation.
This paradox makes Hebrews an ideal text for a theological exploration
of divine and human agency in the life of faith. Indeed, Aquinas himself
turns to Hebrews 5:11-14 in a pivotal discussion of how the believer’s
reception of the infused virtues—themselves gifts that God “works in us,
without us” (ST I-II q. 55, a. 4)—nevertheless demand and include human
agency in the process of those virtues taking root in the believer’s
life (ST II-II q. 24, a. 4).
Taking Aquinas’s interpretation of Hebrews 5:11-14 as a starting point,
in this paper I explore the interaction of divine and human agency in
the process of human transformation within the epistle. I will argue
that Hebrews both commends specific character-forming practices and
understands such practices as human acts of formation that flow out of
and participate in the Triune God’s transforming work. I will pay
particular attention to areas of continuity and discontinuity between
Hebrews’ account of moral growth and discussions of habituation and the
virtues within both the first century and in later Thomistic
developments in virtue ethics.
Having demonstrated that the exalted depiction of the Triune God’s
transforming work paradoxically leads to a greater emphasis on human
participation in that work, I will conclude by reflecting on how this
exploration clarifies aspects of a theological account of the interplay
of divine and human agency in the process of moral growth; furthers our
understanding of the ethics of Hebrews as a whole; and has implications
for contemporary theological ethics concerned with issues of character,
virtue, and formation.
Discussion (5 min)
Sigurd Grindheim, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Eternal Generation of the Son in Heb 1:5 (25 min)
This paper discusses the quotation of Ps 2:7
in Heb 1:5 with a focus on the phrase “today I have begotten you.”
Patristic interpreters found in this expression a description of the
Father’s eternal begetting of the Son. Modern scholars have generally
rejected this interpretation as an imposition of later dogmatic theology
on the epistle to the Hebrews. Instead, they have suggested that the
word “today” may refer to 1) the birth of Jesus or the incarnation; 1)
his baptism and/or transfiguration; 3) his resurrection; 4) his
ascension; or 5) the eschatological “now.” This paper takes a fresh look
at these different interpretations and argues that the reference to the
eternal generation of the Son is the one that is most compatible with
the argument in the epistle. The patristic development of the doctrine
of the Son’s eternal begetting has important points of contact with the
argument of Hebrews.
Discussion (5 min)
Joshua Heavin, Trinity College - Bristol
Is God Trustworthy? God’s Self-Oath and the Logic of Divine Simplicity in Hebrews 6:13–20 (25 min)
Theological Interpretation of Scripture and
ressourcement of Scripture’s reception history have been two of the most
interesting and promising developments in the last few decades for the
constructive task of theology. A recurring question in these
conversations has asked what such work looks like in practice, as
opposed to mere meta-level reflection or prolegomena, and this study
represents one such instance of applied theological interpretation.
Though the doctrine of simplicity fell on hard times in modern theology,
simplicity has received fresh and invigorated attention over the last
few decades among theologians variously interested in retrieving
classical theism, such as the late John Webster, and more recently by
Duby, Levering, Sanders, Sonderegger, Swain, Wittman, and others.
However, it is common for simplicity to meet at least three significant
objections. First, some biblical scholars raise concerns that the
metaphysical considerations entailed by simplicity can only be read
anachronistically into biblical texts rather than historically
substantiated. Second, some theologians likewise suggest that simplicity
represents a philosophical abstraction that is less exegetically
straightforward than other theological loci, object to simplicity as
conflating all of God’s attributes into one, or reject the ontological
entailments of simplicity out of preference for dynamism in theology
proper; last, communities of faith might find simplicity more abstractly
speculative than relevant or practical to the life of faith.
To aid with these three questions, this paper contributes a close
reading of Hebrews 6:13–18, attuned to its theological logic within its
historical context and reception history. In this passage, an attribute
no less pastoral than the trustworthiness of God is described in terms
of God’s swearing an oath “by himself,” there being none greater by whom
to swear (6:13). My argument is that in Hebrews 6:13–18 God’s
trustworthiness is not a component part of God, nor some yet greater and
extraneous reality that God participates in, but uses a logic that
later interpreters appropriately described in terms of simplicity. The
first part of this paper recaps the current state of discussions of
simplicity in theological interpretation of Scripture. The second part
exegetically explores the relationship between God’s being and
attributes in Hebrews 6:13–18, read in conversation with texts on God’s
self-oath in Gen 22:16; Isa 45:23, 62:8; Jer 22:5, 44:26, 49:13, 51:14;
Amos 4:2, 6:8, 8:7; and Philo Alleg. Interp. 3.203. Part three briefly
probes how Hebrews 6:13 has factored into historic discussions of
simplicity by Aquinas, Thomas Boston, and others. The final part of this
paper draws out the constructive value of the logic of simplicity on
divine trustworthiness in three ways: first, the value of this reading
for projects of theological interpretation and/or retrieval of
simplicity; second, the questions this passage poses against biblicistic
rejections of simplicity; and third, the pastoral value of divine
simplicity and divine trustworthiness for insiders and outsiders to
communities of faith, who might dismiss simplicity as overly abstract,
impractical, or even harmful and toxic.
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (30 min)
S8-401
Intertextuality in the New Testament12/08/20207:00 PM to 9:00 PMTheme: Intertextuality in the Epistles
Julie M. Leyva, Duke University
God Said It Where? Tracing a Mystery Citation in Hebrews 13 (19 min)
n many and various ways, scholars have
illuminated the way Israel’s Scriptures function as divine discourse in
Hebrews. This paper examines one specific instance of divine speech in
Hebrews: “I will never leave you or forsake you” (13:5), and assesses
several potential scriptural sources. Although the citation does not
match exactly any extant passage in the LXX/OG, commentators have
nominated various sources, including Genesis 28:15, Deuteronomy 31:6-8,
Joshua 1:5-9, and 1 Chronicles 28:20, though they devote little
attention to defending any of these choices. This paper will explore
each of these potential sources, noting themes within their literary
contexts that might connect to the situation in Hebrews. After assessing
the merits of these possible scriptural quotations, we will argue that
the author of Hebrews may not have had any one text in mind but rather
invoked an often-repeated divine promise from Israel’s Scriptures as a
word of assurance to his audience, living as they were in uncertain
circumstances.
