Hebrews and the Trinity

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BlBLiOTHECA SACRA 168 (July-September 2011) 334-46

THE TRINITY IN THE BOOK

OF HEBREWS

Nathan D Holsteen

APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION TODAY a r e legion

Linguistic theorists philosophers and theologians rightlywrestle with weighty questions of textual meaning and

reader response Varying perspectives on a host of issues lead to avariety of hermeneutical recommendations

1

One idea that sometimes gets lost in current discussions of

biblical hermeneutics however is that of internal coherence Simply put any written work that conveys a message makes implicitassertions in constructing its overall message and these implicitassertions give shape to the coherence of the work Denying theseimplicit assertions makes the whole work either incoherent or lesscoherent The Book of Hebrews constructs implicitly a perspectivefrom which its contents while varied must be read

HEBREWS PORTRAYS GOD AS TRIUNE BY AFFIRMING

BOTH ONENESS AND THREE-NESS

The necessary components of Trinitarianism are both oneness andthree-ness Though Hebrews does not include explicit Trinitarianstatements one may assert that the author of Hebrews portrayedGod as triune if one finds clear evidence of the oneness of God andalso evidence of three distinct persons

2

Nathan D Holsteen is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies Dallas TheologicalSeminary Dallas Texas



The Trinity in the Book of Hebrews 335

HEBREWS AFFIRMS THE ONENESS OF GOD BY CONNECTING GODSPAST AND PRESENT WORK

Everywhere in Hebrews the Old Testament understanding of the

oneness of God is assumed For example Hebrews 3 weaves together several passages from the Old Testament in describing therebellion of the Israelites after the Exodus Hebrews mentions therebellion at Meribah and Massah and reviews Gods act of judgment during forty years in the wilderness In discussing this GodHebrews portrays Him as acting in unity

While this argument may not seem persuasive at first it actually carries great weight If one of the major purposes of Hebrews is

to persuade Jewish believers to remain faithful to Christ by eschewing a return to Judaism3 then an affirmation of divine unitymakes good sense This is as if the author of Hebrews were sayingDo not return to Moses for the same God who spoke throughMoses has spoken again by way of supersession through Christ

HEBREWS AFFIRMS THAT THREE DISTINCT PERSONS ARE DIVINE

The second element in support of Trinitarianism in Hebrews is theevidence of three distinct persons Hebrews affirms the deity of theFather the deity of the Son and the deity of the Holy Spirit Andthis affirmation is judged necessary to the argument of the bookfor if God is not triune then the letters argument fails

The Father is identified with Yahweh and is therefore divineThe entire epistle presupposes the deity of the Father He is thesubject of the first sentence of the letter He is invoked in the benediction at the end and everywhere in between the God of Hebrewsis portrayed as the God of the Old Testament In speaking of the

God of the Old Testament the author of Hebrews describes the firstperson of the Trinity the divine person who is called God the Father The appellation Father for this divine person might seem

(329-389) archbishop of Constantinople wrote This I commit unto you today withthis I will baptize you and make you grow This I give you to share and to defend allyour life the One Godhead and Power found in the Three in Unity and comprisingthe Three separately not unequal in substances or natures neither increased nordiminished by superiorities or inferiorities in every respect equal in every respectthe same just as the beauty and the greatness of the heavens is one the infinite

conjunction of Three Infinite Ones Each God when considered in Himself as theFather so the Son as the Son so the Holy Ghost the Three One God when contemplated together Each God because Consubstantial One God because of the Monar



336 BiBLiOTHECA SACRA July983085September 2011

tenuous but the text of Hebrews gives a reasonable basis for this

practice For example Hebrews describes the first person of the

Trinity in relation to the Son whom He has begotten (15) and alsoas the Father of those who believe (129)

But the most compelling argument for identifying the Father

as Yahweh is the practice in Hebrews of applying language unmis-

takably referring to Yahweh as the first person of the Trinity One

of the clearest examples of this practice is in 1229 where the Fa-

ther is described as a consuming fire language clearly reminis-

cent of Deuteronomy 424 which refers to Yahweh Hebrews uses

the same phrase πυρ καταναλίσκον as does the Septuagint (Deut

424 93)The context of Hebrews 1229 differentiates between the per-

son of Jesus and the person of the Father (here referred to as sim-

ply God) First the two persons are distinguished by separate

lists of things and as persons to whom the recipients of the letter

are portrayed as having come (But you have come to v 22) The

list that follows includes Mount Zion myriads of angels the con-

gregation of the firstborn God the spirits of the righteous Jesus

and the sprinkled blood (w 2298308524) The fact that God and Jesusare listed separately distinguishes the two But more than this the

two persons are described differently God is the judge of all (v

23) and is portrayed as speaking at Sinai (v 19) and Jesus on the

other hand is portrayed as the mediator of a new covenant (v

24) Since the Son (Jesus) is the Mediator of a new covenant two

other parties must be involved God (ie the Father) and some

portion of humankind Thus the God of verse 29 is the Father

portrayed in terms associated with the Old Testament description

of YahwehThe Son is depicted as the agent of creation and is therefore

divine Hebrews also affirms the deity of the Son The purpose of

the letter according to most commentators4 is to warn the audi-

ence (Jewish believers) against returning to Judaism The primary

basis for that warning is related to the Sons nature and work Fur-

ther the Sons nature and work must be divine in order for the

warning to be as robust as the author made it In fact the argu-

ment of Hebrews necessitates an affirmation of Jesus deity For




example Hebrews unambiguously demonstrates the deity of the

Son by suggesting that the work of creation attributed to Yahweh

in the Old Testament was carried out by the Son This is seenclearly in 110 You founded the earth in the beginning Lord andthe heavens are the works of your hands

5 In this citation of Psalm

10225 the author of Hebrews took a description of Yahwehs role in

creation from the Old Testament and changed the subject so that

the Son is portrayed as the agent of creation This makes a power-ful statement of the Sons deity

A similar argument can be framed by comparing Hebrews 12

(which explicitly states that the Son is the agent of creation) andthe creation account in Genesis Hebrews 12 explains that the Onethrough whom the Father worked to perform the act of creation(έποίησεν τους αιώνας lit made the ages) is the Son Since theOld Testament clearly affirms that Yahweh is the Creator (Gen 1)

and since Hebrews indicates that the Son is the Creator this isanother strong suggestion of the Sons deity

The Spirit is the agent of revelation and is therefore divine He- brews also affirms the deity of the Holy Spirit While the Spirit is

mentioned less often than the Son nevertheless Hebrews includessignificant evidence for the deity of the Spirit Compelling evidencecomes from the same logic as that employed in arguing for the de-

ity of the Son tha t is activity explicitly attributed to Yahweh bythe Old Testament is now said to be the activity of the Spirit

Repeatedly throughout Hebrews the Spirit is presented as the

person whose voice was heard in the text of the Old Testament And the voice of God in the Old Testament is that of Yahweh Afew examples show the preference in Hebrews for portraying the

Old Testament as the voice of the Spirit In 37 the author citedPsalm 95798308511 after introducing the citation with the words as theHoly Spirit says [καθώς λέγει το ττνβυmicroα το αγιον] This obviouslyportrays the Holy Spirit as the author of Scripture In Hebrews 97the author spoke of the rituals commanded by Yahweh for the Dayof Atonement (Lev 16) The author then attributed the spiritual

point of the ritual to the Holy Spirit Himself (Heb 98) If the

levitical rituals were divinely ordained and the author of Hebrews

attributed these rituals to the Spirit then the author of Hebrews was suggesting that the Spirit is divine Similarly in 101598308517 the



338 BiBLiOTHECA SACRA July-September 2011

dence in Hebrews to conclude that the Holy Spirit is a person Oris the Holy Spirit in Hebrews simply a depiction of divine agency

Several responses to this question are in order First one mustadmit that the evidence for the personality of the Holy Spirit isrelatively scarce in Hebrews Second the evidence for the Spiritspersonality however is not limited to the Spirits role as the agentof revelation Beyond this there is evidence for the personality ofthe Spirit as one considers the Spirits relationships and His works(to be discussed later)

Third the divine personhood of the Son makes the divine per-sonhood of the Spirit much more likely in Hebrews There is much

greater evidence in Hebrews for the divine personhood of the SonThe recognition of two divine persons (Father and Son) makes itmore probable that seemingly oblique descriptions of the Spiritspersonality should be construed in that way The statements aboutthe Spirit and His work that could potentially be viewed in an impersonal way then take on a far more personal hue

SUMMARY OF TRIUNE TEACHING IN HEBREWS

The author of Hebrews adequately affirmed the oneness of Godand abundantly displayed that three distinct personsmdashFatherSon and Holy Spiritmdashcan be discerned in the Godhead This picture of one God subsisting in three persons forms the foundationfor the following discussion of intra-Trinitarian relationships andof the actions of the Trinity


PERSONAL INTRA-TRINITARIAN RELATIONSHIPS

Hebrews depicts all three persons of the Godhead as involved inintra-Trinitarian relationships Each person is portrayed asuniquely related to the others but the significant point here is thateach is portrayed as being in relationship The presence of relationship implies a distinction of persons and so an understanding ofthese relationships forms a powerful argument for Trinitarianism

THE FATHER BEGETS THE SON AND HONORS THE SPIRIT

Hebrews provides information sufficient to assert that the Fatheri i l d i i T i i i l i hi Whil f h




and Son according to Hebrews is the Fathers begetting of the

Son This is the γβγέννηκα from γεννάω of Hebrews 15a While

variously translated this verb certainly forms the cornerstone for adiscussion of the relationship between the Father and the Son

Hebrews does not indicate a point of beginning for this rela-

tionship Even though the Father said Today I have begotten

Thee (NASB) it is difficult to assign that day with any certainty to

a point in eternity past or even a point in time Rather the state-

ment pertains more to the relationship itself6 Regardless of the

exact referent of begotten in this text the fact remains that hav-

ing been begotten Jesus is related to God as a son is related to his

father A Trinitarian understanding of the Godhead proves helpfulin assessing the point of this passagemdashleading gently toward a re-

lational understanding of Jesus Sonship7 rather than providing an

opportunity for gnostic emanations

The acts of fatherly devotion portrayed in the text include the

Father commanding the angels to worship the Son (16) the Father

anointing the Son with the oil of gladness (v 9) and the Father

subjugating all things to the Son (v 13) These acts illustrate the

nature of the relationship that is summarized in the Fathers words I will be his Father and he will be my Son (v 5b)

In another aspect of the relationship between the Father and

the Son the Father is said to have given children to the Son Citing

Isaiah 818 Hebrews 213b applies this concept to the Father983085Son

relationship by setting the gift of children in a new context

namely that of the Sons humiliation

Because the Son has shared in human flesh and blood those

who likewise share in flesh and blood are in a sense His brothers

6 While this understanding of the Sons begottenness is by no means agreed to

by all it finds support from Augustine who writes A divine interpretation is givento that expression Today have I begotten Thee whereby the uncorrupt and Catho-lic faith proclaims the eternal generation of the power and Wisdom of God who isthe Only983085begotten Son (Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms 26 in Nimiddotcene and Post983085Nicene Fathers ed Philip Schaff 1st series [1889 reprint PeabodyMA Hendrickson 2004] 83) Also Thomas Aquinas seems to view this passage asaffirming an eternal generation However a number of prominent expositors dis-agree including Chrysostom (Homilies on Epistle to Hebrews 31 in Nicene andP Ni F h 14 3 ) d J h C l i (C l i C i Th E i l




and sisters (214a)8 Curiously mixing this familial metaphor He-

brews refers to the children of Isaiah 8 This delicate interplay

affirms once again that Jesus possesses deity He is the living God(and humanity comprises His children) but He is also the para-

digmatic Man with whom other humans (believers) share a frater-

nal bond

This passage also includes a unique portrayal of the Fathers

relationship with the Son in which the Father bestows honor onthe Son because of the Sons obedience even to death (29)

This discussion of the Father honoring the Son leads to a re-lated affirmation in Hebrews namely the Fathers defense of the

Sons honor (and not coincidentally the Spirits honor) in 1029Here the author of Hebrews asserted that one who tramples the

Son of God underfoot (the verb here is a form of καταπατέω) is wor-thy of worse punishment than the one who rejects the law ofMosesmdashfor which the penalty was death The Father is portrayed

as the executor of that punishment as the context mentions a furyof fire that will consume Gods enemies (v 27) This subtly insists

that the Father defends the honor of the Son and also of the Holy

Spirit For it is the Sons blood that inaugurated the New Cove-nant and it is the Spirit who applies divine blessing to those who

are being made holy

THE SON OBEYS THE FATHER

The two foremost examples of the Sons intra983085Trinitarian related983085

ness to the Father are the Sons faithfulness and His obedience tothe Father Hebrews 319830856 articulates Jesus faithfulness in com-

parison with that of Moses In showing Jesus superiority over

Moses the author compared their faithfulness to God Moses wasfaithful (πιστός) in Gods house as a servant (θεράπων v 5) butJesus is faithful over Gods house as a Son (χριστός δε ως νιος έπίτον οίκον αύτου ν 6) Obviously one of the major differences be-

tween Moses and Christ is the nature of their relationship withGod the Father The Son honors that relationship by being faithful

to the one who appointed him (v 2)

The Sons relationship with the Father is also characterized by

obedience He learned obedience from the things which He suf-fered [poundmicroαθ euroν αφ ων επαθεν την ύπακοήν] (58 NASB) The idea ofthe Son learning obedience may seem puzzling however this need




what obedience entails through his passion in order to achieve salvation and to become fully qualified for his office as eternal highpriest

9

The essence of this obedience is in the Sons submission to theFather This does not mean He has a lower rank instead it sug-gests the willing submission of one person to another equal personin what might be called an order

10

THE SPIRIT IS THE FATHERS SENT ONE

Interestingly Hebrews portrays the Spirits intra983085Trinitarian rela-

tionships more often than one might expect

The nature of the Spirits relationship with the Father is sub-tly articulated in 1029 In that passage the Father is seen defend-

ing the honor of the Son But the verse seems to indicate that in

the same way the Father defends the honor of the Spirit (who is

referred to as the Spirit of grace)

This may not be the strongest evidence for the Spirits rela-tionship with the Father but the Fathers defense of the Spiritshonor in this context relates to the fact that the Spirit is vitallyinvolved in applying divine blessing to the recipients of the cove-

nant The phrase most evocative of the Spirits role is receiving the

knowledge of the truth (1026) He bears witness to believers

concerning the benefits they enjoy (w 1598308518)

If the Spirits role in the context of Hebrews 10 is linked to the

delivery of divine truth it seems reasonable that the Spirits per-

spective with respect to the Father is one of messenger prophet or

Sent One Thus the traditional formulation of procession finds a

degree of support in Hebrews Insulting the Spirit of grace (v 29)

seems tantamount to insulting the One who delivered truth thetruth denied by anyone who might choose to live in opposition to it

The Spirits Trinitarian relationship is also described by He-

brews with respect to the Son for the eternal Spirit (πνεύmicroατος

αιωνίου) was involved in the Sons offering of Himself to the Father

as the unblemished sacrifice (914)





MULTIPLE ROLES IN DIVINE WORKS

Another indication of Trinitarianism in Hebrews is seen in the way

the author portrayed all three persons as active in divine works In

a sense this is the foundational premise of the letters argument

God has acted for the benefit of humankind through Moses butnow He has acted in a surpassing fashion as God Himself has be-come flesh and made atonement for sins In this superlative act ofsacrifice all three divine persons are activemdashboth in Gods self983085revelation to humankind and in Gods saving work on behalf of

humanity

THE TRIUNE GOD IS ACTIVE IN SELF983085REVELATION

The Epistle to the Hebrews opens with a startlingly clear affirma-tion of Gods activity of self983085revelation In laying the foundation forhis assertion of Jesus supremacy to Moses the author of Hebrewsaffirmed that God spoke in the past in many ways The message ofthe prophets was of divine origin and of divine self983085revelation Butnow the author wrote God has spoken again in His Son The Son

is divine self983085revelation He is the radiance of his [the Fathers]glory and the representation of his essence [απαύγασmicroα της δόξηςκαι χαρακρήρ της ύποστάσβως αύτοϋ] 13)

Virtually all of Hebrews affirms that the Son is the Fathersself983085revelation Perhaps more subtle is the depiction of the Spiritsinvolvement in divine self983085revelation Though the Spirits role issubtle it is nevertheless clearmdashfor the Spirit is the authenticatingagent of humanly mediated divine revelation and also the divine

person who speaks in such revelationHebrews 2 gives the authors defense of his own authority in

asserting the supremacy of Jesus He had just asserted that theSon is divine and so He is superior to the angels (259830858) Thereforethe message that came both in and through Jesus has more author-ity than the message that came through angels (this is a stylizedrepresentation of the Mosaic Covenant which was mediated byangels Acts 738 53 Gal 319) But Hebrews did not stop thereJesus spoke as a divine person (salvation was first announced by the Lord Heb 23) and thus His message is revelatory Thismessage was confirmed to us by those who heard him (v 3) The




Spirit The authority of the apostles and by extension the author-

ity of their message was confirmed by signs wonders and the gifts

of the Spirit The Spirits activity serves as the confirming evi-dencemdashthe authenticationmdashof Gods revelation mediated by the

apostles

As already noted several Old Testament passages are pre-

sented as the words of the Holy Spirit (37 98 1015) The Holy

Spirit authenticates Gods self983085revelation when that revelation is

mediated through human agency

THE TRIUNE GOD IS ACTIVE IN SALVATION

In Hebrews all three persons of the Trinity are portrayed as takingpart in Gods amazing work of salvation

The Fathers primary role in salvation is affirmed in 210 where the author of Hebrews portrayed the plan of salvation as the work of the Father As the author of their salvation the Father brings many sons to glory Hebrews 1010 similarly affirms theprimacy of the Father as the will of the Father is shown to be the

will by which believers have been made holymdasheven though the

means by which this is accomplished is the offering of Jesus body11

Nevertheless certain aspects of the Fathers activity de-serve mention

First the Father is portrayed as the transcendent One a con-cept that the author drew from the Old Testament and often re-ferred to in Hebrews From the opening paragraph in which theFathers creative work is depicted as being accomplished throughthe Son (119830852) to the concluding admonitions in chapter 12 theFathers transcendence is magnified Perhaps the last clause of

chapter 12 encapsulates this attitude our God is a consumingfire (v 29)

The holy transcendent Father is also propitiated by the Sonsself983085sacrifice The Sons work has been accepted by the Father andas a result those who are Christs can have confidence in theirstanding before the Creator God Such an attitude is expressly de-picted in 725 which states that Jesus is able to save completelythose who come to God through him because he always lives to

intercede for them Salvation could not be available if the Sons




work had not been accepted by the Father That same attitude isseen in 416 which states that believers may come boldly beforethe throne of grace because they have a merciful High Priest Je-sus (vv 1498308515) This would be nonsensical if the Sons work hadnot been accepted by the Father Believers have every reason toflee to the throne of grace

While some might insist that the Fathers acceptance of the

Sons work actually belongs in the realm of intra983085Trinitarian rela-tionshipmdashand such an assertion certainly has meritmdashit is also truethat Hebrews portrays this acceptance almost uniformly in thecontext of the believers assurance before God The Fathers accep-

tance of the Sons work provides the firm foundation for the be-lievers confidence

This leads to the second aspect of Hebrews articulation of theFathers role in the salvation of humankind The Father is por-trayed as becoming a Father to those who are being made holy

And this acceptance as sons enables believers to persevere know-ing that God disciplines every son He loves (1259830856)

The Sons role in the accomplishment of salvation is perhaps

the most significant divine work according to Hebrews In summa-rizing the importance of the Sons role in salvation 92698308528 revealsthat Christ appeared to put away sin by His sacrifice and will ap-pear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation (v 28)Throughout the letter the Son is portrayed as the one who providedcleansing for sin Even in the opening of the letter the author wrotethat the Son when He had accomplished cleansing for sins satdown at the right hand of the Majesty on high (13)

While the Spirits activity did not receive the attention that the

author gave to the Sons activity it is nonetheless interesting tonote that the Spirit is linked to Gods accomplishment of salvationThis is seen in 64 which refers to those who had become partak-ers of the Holy Spirit (microετόχους γβνηθέντας πνεύmicroατος άγιου)

Again Hebrews ties the Spirits work to the Sons saving workso intimately that mans rejection of the divine work of salvation isdepicted as insulting the Spirit of grace (1029) Clearly then theHoly Spirit is involved in the divine work of salvation

HEBREWS PORTRAYS GOD AS TRIUNE BY AFFIRMING A MESSAGE




in Christ can one find salvation12

The logic of this assertionmdashthat salvation is only in Christmdashisitself an argument for a Trinitarian perspective in Hebrews Thesalvation in Christ of which the author wrote is complete (725)eternal (59) based on Jesus defeat of the devil through death(214) and cleanses even the conscience (1022) to list just a few ofthe descriptions found in Hebrews What kind of person could bringthis kind of salvation According to Hebrews own affirmation Heis one greater than Moses and also greater than the angels Butwhat is this person like

If one were to assert that this Savior is something of a demi

urge that assertion would presumably encounter difficulties in explaining the way Jesus is portrayed in Hebrews One could proposesome other view that maintains Jesus deity but explains it in asuborthodox waymdashfor example Apollinarianism Nestorianism Eu-tychianism13 or even the broader concepts of Modalism or Adop-tionism14 But these fail to account for the nature of the Savior de

in explaining the purpose of the letter to the Hebrews Lane suggests that the

writer of Hebrews urges his listeners to hold loyally to their confession of JesusChrist as the sole mediator of salvation in a time of crisis and warns them of the judgment of God they would incur if they should renounce their Christian commitment (Lane Hebrews 1-8 c)

Arguing along similar lines Ellingworth suggests that the danger facing thereaders of Hebrews is that in a crisis they might reject and deny the distinctivelyChristian dimension of their faith (The Epistle to the Hebrews 80) The writer ofHebrews countered this danger by presenting Christ as the essential and inseparable culmination of Gods purposes for his one people Christ as high priest offering in perfect obedience to the Father the sacrifice of himself accomplished once forall what the old priesthood and its animal sacrifices foreshadowed but could not

effect Anyone who abandons him has no other hope (ibid)DeSilva suggests that the climactic exhortation is to persevere in gratitudefor the benefactions bestowed by Jesus and God (Perseverance in Gratitude 74)This is of such significance in DeSilvas estimation that the phrase perseverance ingratitude is the title of his commentary One of the central benefactions of Jesusaccording to DeSilva is that Jesus priestly ministry is the basis of the Christiansstanding before God (ibid 180) In another place he states Jesus chief gift is thathe affords access to God (ibid 181)

Koester suggests that the rhetorical strategy of the author involves the key observation that through suffering Jesus offered a complete sacrifice for sins so thatpeople may draw near to God with confidence (Hebrews 87)

These errors all deny some vital aspect of orthodox Christology Apollinarianismaffirms a semi-human Jesus in order to protect the full deity of Jesus Nestorianismcreates a division or separation between the human and divine natures in Jesus




manded by Scripture More specifically the purpose of Hebrewselicits the famous soteriological dictum God alone can save us

15

This Savior in the perspective of Hebrews is God in the fleshmdashandthe argument used to demonstrate Jesus superiority leads inexorably to Trinitarianism

True Hebrews does not explicitly teach Trinitarianism Butthe kind of salvation offered and the kind of Savior required to of-fer it necessitate a Trinitarian affirmation16

CONCLUSION

This study has shown that the Epistle to the Hebrews affirms thereis one God revealed in three distinct personsmdashFather Son andHoly Spiritmdasheach of which is divine Each person in the Godhead isportrayed in Hebrews as active in intra-Trinitarian relationshipsand also active in divine works Further the purpose of Hebrewsnecessitates this Trinitarian affirmation Consequently the God ofHebrews is the triune God

An implication of this study relates to the erroneous sugges

tion that the concept of the Trinity was a third- or fourth-centuryphenomenon While this topic deserves investigation such a studyshould build on the underlying affirmation of a triune Godhead asseen in Hebrews

While not always as explicit as one may wish the implicit as-sertions in Hebrews about the divine persons and their worksmake a Trinitarian perspective indispensible to the coherence ofthe letter as a whole In this respect then the Epistle to the He-brews is in its very essence a Trinitarian work

person manifests Himself in three modes Father Son and Holy Spirit Adoption-ism suggests that there is one person in the Godhead and this God adopted a mannamed Jesus to accomplish His plan (ibid 75-78)

This famous dictum is an adaptation of many passages one of the most famousis in Athanasius What then was God to do or What was to be done save the re-newing of that which was in Gods image so that by it men might once more come toknow Him But how could this have come to pass save by the presence of the veryImage of God our Lord Jesus Christ For by mens means it was impossible sincethey are but made after an image nor by angels either for not even they are (Gods)

images Whence the Word of God came in His own Person that as He was the Im-age of the Father He might be able to create fresh the man after the image (On the Incarnation of the Word 3137 in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 443) Athana






HEBREWS AFFIRMS THE ONENESS OF GOD BY CONNECTING GODSPAST AND PRESENT WORK

Everywhere in Hebrews the Old Testament understanding of the

oneness of God is assumed For example Hebrews 3 weaves together several passages from the Old Testament in describing therebellion of the Israelites after the Exodus Hebrews mentions therebellion at Meribah and Massah and reviews Gods act of judgment during forty years in the wilderness In discussing this GodHebrews portrays Him as acting in unity

While this argument may not seem persuasive at first it actually carries great weight If one of the major purposes of Hebrews is

to persuade Jewish believers to remain faithful to Christ by eschewing a return to Judaism3 then an affirmation of divine unitymakes good sense This is as if the author of Hebrews were sayingDo not return to Moses for the same God who spoke throughMoses has spoken again by way of supersession through Christ

HEBREWS AFFIRMS THAT THREE DISTINCT PERSONS ARE DIVINE

The second element in support of Trinitarianism in Hebrews is theevidence of three distinct persons Hebrews affirms the deity of theFather the deity of the Son and the deity of the Holy Spirit Andthis affirmation is judged necessary to the argument of the bookfor if God is not triune then the letters argument fails

The Father is identified with Yahweh and is therefore divineThe entire epistle presupposes the deity of the Father He is thesubject of the first sentence of the letter He is invoked in the benediction at the end and everywhere in between the God of Hebrewsis portrayed as the God of the Old Testament In speaking of the

God of the Old Testament the author of Hebrews describes the firstperson of the Trinity the divine person who is called God the Father The appellation Father for this divine person might seem

(329-389) archbishop of Constantinople wrote This I commit unto you today withthis I will baptize you and make you grow This I give you to share and to defend allyour life the One Godhead and Power found in the Three in Unity and comprisingthe Three separately not unequal in substances or natures neither increased nordiminished by superiorities or inferiorities in every respect equal in every respectthe same just as the beauty and the greatness of the heavens is one the infinite

conjunction of Three Infinite Ones Each God when considered in Himself as theFather so the Son as the Son so the Holy Ghost the Three One God when contemplated together Each God because Consubstantial One God because of the Monar














































































































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Hebrews and the Trinity

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