mh_parser/vol_split/58 - Hebrews/0 - Introduction.xml

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<div2 id="Heb.i" n="i" next="Heb.ii" prev="Heb" progress="74.93%" title="Introduction">
<div class="Center" id="Heb.i-p0.1"><h2 id="Heb.i-p0.2">Hebrews</h2>
<p id="Heb.i-p1">Completed by <span class="smallcaps" id="Heb.i-p1.1">William Tong</span>.</p>
</div>
<hr/>
<pb id="Heb.i-Page_887" n="887"/>
<div class="Center" id="Heb.i-p1.3">
<p id="Heb.i-p2"><b>AN</b></p>
<h3 id="Heb.i-p2.1">EXPOSITION,</h3>
<h4 id="Heb.i-p2.2">W I T H   P R A C T I C A L   O B S E
R V A T I O N S,</h4>
<h5 id="Heb.i-p2.3">OF THE EPISTLE TO</h5>
<h2 id="Heb.i-p2.4">T H E   H E B R E W S.</h2>
<hr style="width:2in"/>
</div>
<p class="indent" id="Heb.i-p3"><span class="smallcaps" id="Heb.i-p3.1">Concerning</span>
this epistle we must enquire, I. Into the divine authority of it;
for this has been questioned by some, whose distempered eyes could
not bear the light of it, or whose errors have been confuted by it;
such as the Arians, who deny the Godhead and self-existence of
Christ; and the Socinians, who deny his satisfaction; but, after
all the attempts of such men to disparage this epistle, the divine
original of it shines forth with such strong and unclouded rays
that he who runs may read it is an eminent part of the canon of
scripture. The divinity of the matter, the sublimity of the style,
the excellency of the design, the harmony of this with other parts
of scripture, and its general reception in the church of God in all
ages—these are the evidences of its divine authority. II. As to
the divine amanuensis or penman of this epistle, we are not so
certain; it does not bear the name of any in the front of it, as
the rest of the epistles do, and there has been some dispute among
the learned to whom they should ascribe it. Some have assigned it
to Clemens of Rome; other to Luke; and many to Barnabas, thinking
that the style and manner of expression is very agreeable to the
zealous, authoritative, affectionate temper that Barnabas appears
to be of, in the account we have of him in the acts of the
Apostles; and one ancient father quotes an expression out of this
epistle as the words of Barnabas. But it is generally assigned to
the apostle Paul; and some later copies and translations have put
Paul's name in the title. In the primitive times it was generally
ascribed to him, and the style and scope of it very well agree with
his spirit, who was a person of a clear head and a warm heart,
whose main end and endeavour it was to exalt Christ. Some think
that the apostle Peter refers to this epistle, and proves Paul to
be the penman of it, by telling the Hebrews, to whom he wrote, of
Paul's having written to them, <scripRef id="Heb.i-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.3.15" parsed="|2Pet|3|15|0|0" passage="2Pe 3:15">2 Pet.
iii. 15</scripRef>. We read of no other epistle that he ever wrote
to them but this. And though it has been objected that, since Paul
put his name to all his other epistles, he would not have omitted
it here; yet others have well answered that he, being the apostle
of the Gentiles, who were odious to the Jews, might think fit to
conceal his name, lest their prejudices against him might hinder
them from reading and weighing it as they ought to do. III. As to
the scope and design of this epistle, it is very evident that it
was clearly to inform the minds, and strongly to confirm the
judgment, of the Hebrews in the transcendent excellency of the
gospel above the law, and so to take them off from the ceremonies
of the law, to which they were so wedded, of which they were so
fond, that they even doted on them, and those of them who were
Christians retained too much of the old leaven, and needed to be
purged from it. The design of this epistle was to persuade and
press the believing Hebrews to a constant adherence to the
Christian faith, and perseverance in it, notwithstanding all the
sufferings they might meet with in so doing. In order to this, the
apostle speaks much of the excellency of the author of the gospel,
the glorious Jesus, whose honour he advances, and whom he justly
prefers before all others, showing him to be all in all, and this
in lofty strains of holy rhetoric. It must be acknowledged that
there are many things in this epistle hard to be understood, but
the sweetness we shall find therein will make us abundant amends
for all the pains we take to understand it. And indeed, if we
compare all the epistles of the New Testament, we shall not find
any of them more replenished with divine, heavenly matter than this
to the Hebrews.</p>
</div2>