{"id":40903,"date":"2018-12-29T13:16:08","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T18:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?p=40903"},"modified":"2019-10-27T10:29:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T15:29:03","slug":"the-arguments-of-hebrews-1-2-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/the-arguments-of-hebrews-1-2-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arguments of Hebrews 1-2 – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In preparing for my upcoming debate<\/a>, I’ve been revisiting a passage some think is a big problem for biblical unitarians<\/strong>. And in truth, we unitarian Christians are not of one mind in how to read this passage. In this post, I’m going to comment on the NRSV translation, making a few mods here and there, and commenting on the argument being made. In the end, I think this is really not at all a problem for us. The translators’ marginal comments are in brackets; my comments are in italics<\/em>. I also introduce some gratuitous bold<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 <\/sup>but in these last days<\/strong> he has spoken to us by a Son [Or: the Son], whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds [literally: “the ages”<\/em>]. 3 <\/sup>He is the reflection of God\u2019s glory and the exact imprint of God\u2019s very being, and he sustains [or bears along] all things by his powerful word. When <\/strong>he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 <\/sup>having become <\/strong>as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Comments: Note that the context here these latter days (1-2) and then post-exaltation (2-4). This, and the fact that the Bible consistently credits God alone with the Genesis creation, makes it more plausible that the creation in v. 2 is <\/strong>the “new creation” Paul speaks of<\/strong><\/a>, which God accomplished through Jesus at this time (about 33 AD). It is unlikely that he introduces the time as these last days and then violently changes the subject to the beginning of the cosmos, and then back again to these last days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, notice that it is because of his exaltation<\/strong> that Jesus has become superior to the angels; again, this is not consistent with his being fully divine – in that case, he’d be eternally superior to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the one God is the ultimate source of the cosmos, but at very most, even if this is about the Genesis creation<\/strong>, note that it only says that God created through Jesus, which would make Jesus the instrument of creation, or the next to last source of the cosmos – not the creator in the sense God is the creator. So there is no help here for speculations that Jesus is “fully God” or “fully divine,” because that requires being the ultimate source of the cosmos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I take it that the name Jesus inherits at his exaltation is “Lord.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now (as is common) the author states his conclusion up front<\/strong>: that the exalted Son is much superior to any angel. (4) The contrasts that follow are offered in support of that conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrast 1: Jesus is God’s unique Son [while no angel is]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5 <\/sup>For to which of the angels did God ever say, \u201cYou are my Son; today I have begotten you\u201d? [Psalm 2:7] <\/em>Or again,\u201cI will be his Father, and he will be my Son\u201d? [2 Samuel 7:14<\/em>] 6 <\/sup>And again, [Better: “But” – to signify the contrast being asserted<\/em>] when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says [Better: “it says” – God is not the speaker here<\/em>], \u201cLet all God\u2019s angels worship him.\u201d [Deuteronomy 32:43]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Comment: The “world” <\/strong>here, as various commenters note, is the new era initiated by Christ. It is at his exaltation that the angels are commanded to worship him – that is the author’s thought. And it is at his resurrection or exaltation that he is “begotten,” fully becoming Son\/King. (Romans 1:4) This writer in Hebrews 2:5 says “Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking<\/strong>, to angels” – using the same word, oikoumene<\/em>. Again, the whole context here is to then-recent events, especially Jesus’s exaltation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrast 2: <\/strong><\/em>God’s anointed King<\/strong><\/em> vs. <\/strong>mere servants<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 <\/sup>Of the angels he says [Better: “it says” – God is not the speaker here<\/em>], \u201cHe makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.\u201d [Psalm 104:4<\/em>] 8 <\/sup>But of the Son [it says], \u201cYour throne, O God<\/strong>, is [Or: “God is your throne”] forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your [or “his”] kingdom. 9 <\/sup>You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God<\/strong>, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.\u201d [Psalm 45:6-7<\/em>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Contrast 3: [new] creator, seated at God’s right hand vs. mere servants<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 <\/sup>And [it or he says<\/em>], \u201cIn the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth<\/strong>, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 <\/sup>they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing; 12 <\/sup>like a cloak you will roll them up and like clothing they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.\u201d [Psalm 102:25-27<\/em>] 13 <\/sup>But to which of the angels has he ever said, \u201cSit at my right hand<\/strong> until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet\u201d? [Psalm 110:1<\/em>] 14 <\/sup>Are not all angels [lit: “all of them”<\/em>] spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is vv. 10-12 which have some biblical unitarians worried<\/strong>, and which induce some trinitarians to commit the fulfillment fallacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True, in the original Psalm, it is God\/YHWH who is being spoken of, and his Genesis creation.<\/strong> This interesting biblical unitarian piece<\/a> (HT: Rob Bjerk) argues that God is not the speaker in that Psalm, and so he can’t be speaking to the Son here. (The author is worried lest we read the passage as attributing the Genesis creation to Jesus, whereas the Bible consistently credits it to God alone.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the author of Hebrews is not going with the original context<\/strong> and meaning, but rather claiming to find a new meaning in it. And clearly, he’s still talking about the Son<\/strong>, not about God; he’s in his third contrast between the Son and angels. Buzzard’s Jesus was not a Trinitarian<\/em> has a helpful appendix on this; basically, at least some Greek versions of Ps 102 make it sound like someone is speaking to someone else, which makes it easy for this author here to “see” that here God is addressing someone else as “Lord,” i.e. the exalted Son (compare with the “my lord” of Ps 110:1). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note the “latter-day” context of the whole chapter after 1:1. Because of that, the “beginning” here and the creation (1:10) are best taken as the beginning of the new era, and Jesus’s “new creation.” <\/strong>These are part are parcel of his current exalted status, in virtue of which, the whole chapter argues, he is much superior to any angel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Must this be the Genesis creation because the quoted text speaks of the earth and the heavens passing away? I don’t think so. There can be multiple ages to come (1:2); in a transition from one to the next, in some sense things pass away. But still, Jesus will remain – just as in the original context, the psalmist meant that God will outlast anything in the cosmos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time, to fully consider Hebrews 1 in context, we’ll look at chapter 2.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does Hebrews 1 teach that Jesus is the creator of Genesis 1?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"default","neve_meta_container":"default","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"off","neve_meta_disable_footer":"off","neve_meta_disable_title":"off","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40903"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41897,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40903\/revisions\/41897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}