Secret and Revealed Things

The identity of the flesh-and-blood person who put the text of Hebrews on to parchment is one of the Bible’s great mysteries.

From the contents of this word of exhortation, it is clear that this unnamed prophet of God was quite familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures and its Greek translation (the Septuagint). From the book’s simplicity and inner cohesion, it is equally clear that only a holy man moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) could have written such a profound document.

By the third century A. D., there was vigorous conversation about the identity of the human penman. Unlike all the other New Testament epistles, the man of God who wrote this treatise did not explicitly identify himself. Origen—a third century Bible scholar—probably gave the best answer to this puzzle; his conclusion was: “God only knows.”

These facts provide a valuable illustration of Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

What matters most about the authorship of Hebrews (or any other Bible book) is that its ultimate source is God. When a first century document like Hebrews contains many infallible proofs of divine inspiration, the human penman is, at best, a minor matter.

Knowing a “secret thing” like who was the first century author of Hebrews is not essential to going to heaven; knowing that Hebrews is an inspired and authoritative book of the Bible is. Knowing, believing, and living in harmony with the contents of Hebrews (i.e., the “revealed things”) is most essential.

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Author: jchowning

1 thought on “Secret and Revealed Things

  1. We only need to know the revealed things: the things that belong to us and our children that we may do ALL the words.

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