Dr Paul Allen

Christmas 2003: The Nativity (Photo credit: DUCKMARX ) “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ .” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ) It has been observed that this first-written of Paul’s epistles contains more direct references to the second coming of Christ than any of his other writings. Each of its chapters comes to a close with a reference to Christ ’s return in relation to some aspect of His great salvation, as applied to our personal lives. In the first chapter, he speaks of the second coming in relation toservice. “. . . how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven” (1:9-10). Then, in the second chapter, Paul speaks of soul-winning. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” Next, there is an emphasis on stability. “T...

St Paul's Cathedral (Photo credit: J.Salmoral ) There are four reasons why I think Hebrews should be left in anonymity: No one signed it. 1. Paul begins all thirteen of his letters with the same word — “Paul.” Every time . Without exception. Hebrews is the exception you say? This is possible, but I find it even more noteworthy that Paul explicitly states that he wrote all of his letters in the same way, so as to weed out any impostors ( 2 Thes. 3:17). If Paul wrote Hebrews, it seems likely that the evidence from the early church would be as overwhelming as it is for his other letters, but alas, it is not. In fact, some argue that Pauline authorship was only ascribed to Hebrews to make sure it was included in the canon of Scripture (It was not included in the Muratorion canon, 170 A.D.). 2. Hebrews 2:3-4 is inconsistent with Paul’s apostolic argumentation. The author of Hebrews places himself apart from those who received the gospel directly from Jesus and does not i...