Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 71:1 (NA 2020)
Article: The Pneumatology Of The Letter To The Hebrews Confused, Careless, Cavalier Or Carefully Crafted?
Author: Alan K. Hodson

TynBull 71:1 (2020) p. 153

The Pneumatology Of The Letter To The Hebrews
Confused, Careless, Cavalier Or Carefully Crafted?1

Alan K. Hodson

([email protected])

Dissertation Summary

It is the majority position that Hebrews has little to add to NT pneumatology (see the thesis section §1.1). However, that is far from the case. Indeed, on all seven occasions that the author of Hebrews refers to the Spirit (2:4; 3:7; 6:4; 9:8; 9:14; 10:15; 10:29), he does so using language and concepts that are unique in the NT. For instance, the phrase ‘Spirit of grace’ (10:29) is a NT hapax and ‘eternal Spirit’ (9:14) is a biblical hapax.

While exploring these seven texts it became apparent that our author must have had a rich and developed understanding of the person and work of the Spirit to be able to write as he did. This underlying pneumatology was discoverable by a ‘back reading’ of his divine-πνεῦμα texts and is revealed to be at least as significant as that found anywhere else in the Scriptures.

To demonstrate this, it was necessary to show that Hebrews’ divine-πνεῦμα texts are neither incidental nor accidental. To that end, the discussion in §1, particularly §§1.4.5; 1.5, is important in showing that the author is not only creative but also careful, precise, and deliberate in his use of language (including in his use of πνεῦμα). The thesis demonstrates that, statistically, the word πνεῦμα itself is a significant term in the letter. However, it is important to recognise that, as distinctive and/or unique as Hebrews is, nonetheless, the author and letter stand within the mainstream of early Christianity. This is

TynBull 71:1 (2020) p. 154

demonstrated in §2. Specifically, in the same way as Paul and the other NT writers seek to interpret the OT in the light of the Christ event, so too our author reads the OT Christologically (§§2.3–2.6). Furthermore, his many OT ‘echoes’ would suggest that author and congregation ‘had studied the Old Testament together’.2 Consequently, the import of §§1–2 is in showing our...