Divine Christology in the Epistle to the Hebrews: The Son as God

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Nick Brennan investigates the depiction of the Sons divine nature in the Epistle to the Hebrews; despite little attention being directly given to the Sons divinity in recent study of Hebrews, Brennan argues that not only is the Son depicted as divine in the Epistle, but that this depiction ranges outside the early chapters in which it is most often noted, and is theologically relevant to the pattern of the Authors argument. Beginning with a survey of the state of contemporary scholarship on the Sons divinity in Hebrews, and a discussion of the issues connected to predicating divinity of the Son in the Epistle, Brennan analyses the application of Old Testament texts to the Son which, in their original context, refer to God (1:6; 1012), and demonstrates how the Pastor not only affirms the Sons divinity but also the significance of his exaltation as God. He then discusses how Heb 3:3, 4 witnesses to the divinity of the Son in Hebrews, explores debates on the relation of the Sons indestructible life (Heb 7:16) to his divinity, and demonstrates how two key concepts in Hebrews (covenant and sonship) reinforce the Sons divinity. Brennan thus concludes that the Epistle not only portrays the Son as God, but does so in a manner which is a pervasive aspect of its thought, and is theologically salient to many features of the Epistles argument.

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Brennan convincingly argues that Jesus' unique role as the divine Son manifested as high priest and savior plays a pivotal role in the entire theology of the letter. * The Bible Today *

Author Bio

Nick Brennan is Associate Professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary California, USA.