Hebrews Perspectives From Faith Communities In Practice

Getting Biblical in Daily Life

Christian Perspective

Hebrews was written by Christians, for Christians, so you can bet it has a lot to say about what it means to believe in Jesus. Let's explore.

Roman Catholic Perspective

Hebrews hits tons of major points from the Nicene Creed, which Catholics recite during each mass. (Lots of other Christians think it's a pretty swell summation of faith, too.) We edited it down a bit to include all the stuff from Hebrews:

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God […] For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven […] and became man. For our sake he was crucified […] he suffered death and was buried […] in accordance with the Scripture. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and dead. (Source)

That jibes pretty nicely with what Hebrews is saying about Jesus.

Catholic thinkers have struggled for years trying to wrap their heads around what Jesus' death means for humanity—just like the author of Hebrews. Some of the early church fathers thought that Jesus saved the world just by being in it and being awesome. Irenaeus of Lyons thought that Jesus' death paid a "ransom" to Satan so that he would be up for releasing the world from the power of sin. Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas didn't think that the debt was owed to Satan, but to God; Jesus' death then "satisfies" God's thirst for justice (source).

The Catholic Church is also pretty into Melchizedek. During the Eucharistic meal, bread and wine are presented, just like Melchizedek brought to Abraham back in Genesis. Coincidence? They think not. (Source) Catholic priests also have the right to be priests since, like Jesus, they're priests "after the order of Melchizedek." That pretty much applies to any unmarried guy who wants to be ordained (source).

Protestant Perspective

Protestants (and we're including lots of non-Catholic denominations in there) have an interesting relationship with Hebrews. Martin Luther, the guy who kicked off the whole Protestant Reformation, didn't think much of Hebrews. He included it in his list of antilegomena (a fancy word that basically mean "disputed books") along with James, Jude, and Revelation. Mainly because no one could tell who wrote it:

Up to this point we have had the true and certain chief books of the New Testament. The four which follow have from ancient times had a different reputation. In the first place, the fact that Hebrews is not an epistle of St. Paul, or of any other apostle. (Source)

Luther couldn't quite quit them all together, but today, those books appears last in the German translations of the Luther Bible.

While Catholics are big on the whole Jesus-died-to-restore-balance-to-the-Force argument, some Protestants believe that Jesus died so we wouldn't be punished for our sins. We should be the ones who's heads were on the chopping block, but Jesus stepped up to the plate for us. You can thank John Calvin for really nailing down this theory.

You might have also heard of the idea of "the priesthood of all believers." It's something Martin Luther first came up with, and it basically means that, because Jesus is reigning in Heaven as a high priest forever, humans don't need to worry about a crazy spiritual hierarchy with deacons, priests, and bishops down here on Earth. Christians can go straight to Jesus, who takes up their concerns with the big guy.

That's why you'll sometimes hear Protestants (especially Evangelical Protestants) talk about having "a personal relationship with God."

It's all coming together, huh?

Mormon Perspective

According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, there are two levels of priesthood. The first is the Melchizedek priesthood, which is open to all believers. The "lesser" one is Aaron's priesthood—but you have to be a literal descendant of Aaron to qualify (source). In Temple Square in Salt Lake City, there's a statue of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (two of the founders of Mormonism) getting selected for the Melchizedek priesthood. Nice job, gents.

In The Book of Mormon (the holy book, not the Broadway musical), Melchizedek gets name-dropped, too (and a little more backstory):

Humble yourselves even as the people in the days of Melchizedek, who was also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the high priesthood forever. And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed […] Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness; But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father. (Alma 13:14-18) (Source)

That's more than we see of him almost anywhere in the Bible, huh?

Jewish Perspective

Though contemporary Jewish people don't accept the author's main hypothesis—that Jesus is the Jewish messiah—Judaism is still front and center in this book. As Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine puts it, "I think Jews need to know this material, because […] much of the New Testament is actually Jewish literature" (source).

And when it comes down to it, Hebrews is pretty darn Jewish. The author is a Jew who believes that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and he's writing all this to appeal to other Jews just like him. He's intimately familiar with Jewish scripture, rituals, traditions, and customs. And he quotes the Hebrew Bible like a pro. Here's just a sampling of some of the verses he riffs off of and their parallels in the Hebrew Bible:

And that's just the short list. Seriously—break out the lox and bagels because half this book was cribbed from the Hebrew Bible. It's relies so heavily on Jewish scripture and tradition that the title of the book could actually be "The Letter to the Jews."

Here's the catch: Hebrews (and many other New Testament books) has been used against the Jewish community over the years. Our author makes some statements that might make you think that he doesn't care much for Judaism:

• "Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses." (3:3)
• "The law made nothing perfect." (7:19)
• "Jesus[…] is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises." (8:6)
• "In speaking of 'a new covenant,' he has made the first one obsolete." (8:13)
• "The law has only a shadow of the good things to come." (10:1)
• "Be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food, which have not benefited those who observe them. We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat." (13:9-10)

In the past, awful people have pointed to these passages to confirm what their prejudiced little minds already tell them: God thinks it's fine to hate and oppress Jewish people.

Yeah, that's not okay.

Sure, the author is offering a tough critique of Jewish laws and history, but the point of these verses isn't to bring the hate. Jesus was Jewish, and so were lots of his followers back in the 1st-century. These Jewish-Christians struggled with what place Jesus had in Jewish history: was he the messiah God had promised them? They certainly thought so, and they looked to Jewish scripture and life to prove it.

So was the author of Hebrews anti-Semitic? Probably not. But have these verses, whatever their intention, been used to hurt folks in the Jewish community over the years? Sadly, yes.