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According to Jon Laansma, one mistake of modern Hebrews scholarship is “in attempting to make historical analysis fill the whole earth.”[1] The historical enterprise in New Testament scholarship has given preferential treatment to Jesus studies, Paul, and James. With the literary and theological ideas in Hebrews, historical-critical study of Hebrews has been “compartmentalized.”[2] It lacks an authorship inscription, internal historical markers, audience, dating, and more. Historical scholarship has been “perpetually circling” around these questions.[3] And then this book comes onto the scene.

Jon Laansma and Daniel Treier—both at Wheaton College—compiled a team of scholars who provide a history of interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Center for Ancient Christian Studies is interested in this volume for two reasons: (1) Patristic Reception; and, (2) Theological Interpretation of Scripture.

Patristic Reception of Hebrews

Because historical scholarship has held sway in Hebrews studies, Wirkungsgeschichte or Rezeptionsgeschichte may contribute to fresh readings of Hebrews and “uncover a forgotten interpretive insight that would survive the acids of critical methods”.[4] This volume, although selective, devotes multiple chapters to the history of interpretation and how Hebrews affected interpreters in pre-critical and critical eras.

Valuable to the Center, then, are the following chapters:

Frances M. Young, “Christological Ideas in the Greek Commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews,” 33–47.

D. Jeffrey Bingham, “Irenaeus and Hebrews,” 48–73.

Charles Kannengiesser, “‘Clothed with Spiritual Fire’: John Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Letter to Hebrews,” 74–83.

Frances Young investigates the primary literature of Chrysostom, Theodoret, Cyril of Alexandria, and Theodore of Mopsuestia. From these figures, then, she analyzes their use of Hebrews and Christological traditions pertaining to Antiochene and Alexandrian schools.

Jeffrey Bingham reflects on 120 years of scholarship assessing the influence of Hebrews on Irenaeus’ Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies). He adequately shows signs of influence. His conclusion is helpful for Patristic hermeneutical conversations,

“Although he [Irenaeus] does not cite remarkable portions of Hebrews, he unobtrusively inserts its language, argument, and conceptions. He has appropriated the text’s language and ideas and made them his own through memory, association, and argument. It flows from his pen as if it were his own creation. Allusions, rather than signifying an absence of citation, and therefore a minimal role for a text, actually signify the opposite. Scripture has become such a part of thought and life through memory and rumination that it shows itself without pomp.”[5]

Charles Kannengiesser provides cursory readings of Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Letter to the Hebrews, highlighting theological and interpretive ideas. For aspiring PhD students, Kannengiesser says, “we are still waiting for an in-depth theological analysis of these homilies in regard to their reception in the main traditions of the church.”[6]

Theological Interpretation of Scripture and Historical Criticism

Two biblical scholars respond to Christology, Hermeneutics and Hebrews in the final chapters. Theological exegesis is not a total replacement of the historical enterprise. As Laansma emphasizes, theological exegesis fills the gaps that historical critical scholarship is unable to answer. “The word of Hebrews,” according to Laansma, “will be heard more fully and faithfully through the program of ‘theological interpretation’ than it has been through the governing research program of the modern period.”[7] Although Attridge is critical of theological interpretation, he does adhere to the theological shortcomings of historical criticism.[8] The more optimistic Hagner points to the successful appropriation of Hebrews prior to the rise and influence of Enlightenment rationalism.[9] Moreover, openness to the Bible as God’s speech and a predisposition to hear such a voice made “pre-critical exegesis of the early church so effective in comparison with the poverty of much critical exegesis today.”[10]

So, this volume is valuable for early Christian scholars for multiple reasons. First, it highlights New Testament reception in the early Church Fathers. This work demonstrates the Patristic reception of Hebrews and lists primary texts for future work. Second, Patristic exegesis is one component of Theological Interpretation. Although receiving mixed results, modern historical scholars see value in theological exegesis, and Patristic exegesis in particular, to influence the modern theological enterprise.

About the Author:
Shawn Wilhite

Shawn Wilhite is currently a Ph.D. student in New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His research focuses mainly on the Epistle to Hebrews, History of New Testament Interpretation, Theological Interpretation of Scripture, Early Christian and Patristic Hermeneutics, New Testament Theology, and Greek and Latin Studies.

Twitter:
@shawnwilhite
Website:
Doctrinae Coram Deo

  1. on C. Laansma, “Hebrews: Yesterday, Today, and Future; An Illustrative Survey, Diagnosis, Prescription,” in Christology, Hermeneutics and Hebrews: Profiles from the History of Interpretation, ed. Jon C. Laansma and Daniel J. Treier, Library of New Testament Studies 423 (London, UK: T&T Clark, 2012), 3.  ↩

  2. Laansma, “Hebrews: Yesterday, Today, and Future,” 23.  ↩

  3. Laansma, “Hebrews: Yesterday, Today, and Future,” 25.  ↩

  4. Laansma, “Hebrews: Yesterday, Today, and Future,” 4.  ↩

  5. D. Jeffrey Bingham, “Irenaeus and Hebrews,” in Christology, Hermeneutics and Hebrews: Profiles from the History of Interpretation, ed. Jon C. Laansma and Daniel J. Treier, Library of New Testament Studies 423 (London, UK: T&T Clark, 2012), 71.  ↩

  6. Charles Kannengiesser, “‘Clothed with Spiritual Fire’: John Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Letter to the Hebrews,” in Christology, Hermeneutics and Hebrews: Profiles from the History of Interpretation, ed. Jon C. Laansma and Daniel J. Treier, Library of New Testament Studies 423 (London, UK: T&T Clark, 2012), 74.  ↩

  7. Laansma, “Hebrews: Yesterday, Today, and Future,” 5.  ↩

  8. Harold W. Attridge, “Hebrews and the History of Its Interpretation: A Biblical Scholar’s Response,” in Christology, Hermeneutics and Hebrews: Profiles from the History of Interpretation, ed. Jon C. Laansma and Daniel J. Treier, Library of New Testament Studies 423 (London, UK: T&T Clark, 2012), 202.  ↩

  9. Donald A. Hagner, “Hebrews: A Book for Today—A Biblical Scholar’s Response,” in Christology, Hermeneutics and Hebrews: Profiles from the History of Interpretation, ed. Jon C. Laansma and Daniel J. Treier, Library of New Testament Studies 423 (London, UK: T&T Clark, 2012), 215.  ↩

  10. Hagner, “Hebrews: A Book for Today,” 217.  ↩