Apocalyptic Eschatological Textures in the Epistle to the Hebrews

Description

The Judeo-Christian faith is immersed in the apocalyptic eschatological teachings. It is presumed that the epistle was written to a mixed Jewish-Gentile Christian community dispersed in Asia Minor. Thus, the congregation had a Greco-Roman milieu with honour and shame as the basic social undercurrents. Also, the majority population can be divided into middle and lower strata. Based on this fact it can be presumed that the early Asia Minor Christians were primarily drawn from these middle strata of the society. The members were confronting the reality of death, confiscation of property, and imprisonment. Therefore, a significant connection that fleshed out is the relationship between apostasy and the socio-political and economic situations of the members. Moreover, this epistle finds itself among several other writings in the late first century works like the book of Revelation in stressing the apocalyptic eschatological textures to encourage the members at the time of crisis. At this juncture, some of the members of the community sought honour and status outside the path shown by Jesus the Messiah by reverting to their old religion, thus escaping marginalisation. This study is thus an attempt to understand the apocalyptic eschatological textures behind the warning passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Rev. Dr. Reji George demonstrates his skills in interpreting the book of Hebrews making a lasting impression in terms of Christian doctrines. His study demands deep reading and study (willing heart) to explore further the uncovered dimensions of the scripture. It’s very impressive because of the scholarly documents analysed to prepare the final product of the research.

Rev. Professor Dr. C.I. David Joy, The Principal, KUTS, Trivandrum

How did early Christian communities respond to social and political challenges in their struggles to remain faithful to their faith in Christ? Rev. Dr. Reji George creatively probes this question by examining the apocalyptic textures in the texts of warning in the Epistle to the Hebrews by employing a socio-historical approach. Also, the use of Social Identity Theory to understand the identity of the community behind the Epistle as it is reflected in the warning passages and its relevance to the Indian context provides us a good example of critical and creative exegesis of Biblical texts.

Professor Dr. Sam P Matthew, Faculty in the Department of New Testament, UTC, Bangalore