By Walter Loft, General Church Historian of The Church of God
In our discourses and written materials, we usually reference Bible sources by their authors’ names. For example, when quoting from Paul’s writings, we will say “Paul said” (and then we will quote him) and provide the Scripture reference. The same is true of Peter’s writings or the writings of John or others whom we are quoting. But this is not the norm when quoting from the book of Hebrews. Although some speakers or writers will attribute quotes from Hebrews to Paul, most ministers will simply refer to “the writer of Hebrews” and let it go at that. Some Bible publishers preface the book of Hebrews with a heading such as: “The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews.” Not all Bible publishers do this, however. Why do we see these discrepancies when it comes to the book of Hebrews? The reason is that we do not know for sure who wrote this epistle.
In going back to the earliest sources on the subject, we find that those who were contemporary with the writing of this epistle did not know who the author was either. We will quote a short discourse from an early scholar of the Church, named Origen, who lived in the latter part of the first century. This is recorded in The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus: “The style of the Epistle with the title, ‘To the Hebrews,’ has not that vulgarity of diction which belongs to the apostle [a reference to Paul], who confesses that he is but common in speech, that is in his phraseology. But that this epistle is more pure Greek in the composition of its phrases, every one will confess who is able to discern the difference of style. Again, it will be obvious that the ideas of the epistle are admirable, and not inferior to any of the books acknowledged to be apostolic [Paul’s]. Every one will confess the truth of this, who attentively reads the apostle’s writings.”
To these he afterwards again adds: “But I would say, that the thoughts are the apostle’s, but the diction and phraseology belong to someone who has recorded what the apostle said, and as one who noted down at his leisure what his master dictated. If then, any church considers this epistle as coming from Paul, let it be commended for this, for neither did those ancient men deliver it as such without cause. But who it was that really wrote the epistle, God only knows. The account, however, that has been current before us is, according to some, that Clement who was bishop of Rome wrote the epistle; according to others, that it was written by Luke, who wrote the gospel and the Acts. But let this suffice on these subjects.”
In reading Clement, the bishop of Rome, we find his writings of the same quality, tone, and spirit as the apostle Paul’s. While we do not know exactly who the author of Hebrews is, it is commendable to him that one would consider the mention of his name along with that of Luke as possibly being the writer. It is not paramount that we know definitively this detail about the book of Hebrews since we take it along with the rest of the Bible as being the Holy Ghost-inspired Word of God. Let it suffice for all of us to come into unity concerning this subject by referencing verses from the book of Hebrews as being from “the writer of Hebrews.”