The Eschatology of the Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews -- By: Stanley D. Toussaint

Journal: Grace Theological Journal
Volume: GTJ 03:1 (Spring 1982)
Article: The Eschatology of the Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews
Author: Stanley D. Toussaint


The Eschatology of the Warning Passages
in the Book of Hebrews

Stanley D. Toussaint

The prophetic portions of the warning passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews contain broad hints as to whom these admonitions are addressed. The notices of judgment and the warnings of failure do not deal with rewards for Christians but with elernal judgment and the missing of millennial blessing.

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Introduction

The Book of Hebrews fairly bristles with a number of large and perplexing problems, such as authorship, destination, the nature of the work, and the writer’s use of the OT. At or near the apex of questions concerned with the interpretation of this work is a consideration of the warning passages. Are they directed to believers, advising that there may be a loss of reward, or do they warn professing believers about the danger of apostasy? Even if the warnings are only hypothetical, the reader ultimately is driven back to these two alternatives. It is quite clear the book is addressed to a specific readership in a particular location with a definite situation in view (cf. 10:32–34; 12:4; 13:3, 23). Because the epistle is so specific it can hardly be said that one warning passage is directed to one group and another warning to a different group. It seems that the writer is addressing all the warnings to the same readership.

One great aid in determining the target of the warning passages is the eschatology in these passages. In other words, do the passages threaten loss of reward or the missing of salvation? If the former is correct, the paragraphs in question are addressed to believers; if on the other hand the eschatology deals with eternal damnation or eternal salvation, the passages are aimed at professing believers.

It is the thesis of this article that eschatology is a determinative factor in coming to the conclusion that the passages in question are

concerned with the danger of apostasy. There were some in the readership who had made a profession of faith in Christ but were seriously considering returning to Judaism. It was not a case of the Galatian heresy where some were attempting to unite Christianity with Judaism; on the contrary, these people were about to abandon Christianity to slip back to the works system of Judaism.

Hebrews 2:1-4

A crucial point in this section is the meaning of “salvation” in v 3 : “…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a...

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