49
votes
How do churches that have indefinitely suspended in-person services understand Hebrews 10:25?
Let us start this answer by pointing out that while churches have stopped in-person meetings "indefinitely" according to the technical usage (which means "for an unknown time period&...
- 29.7k
13
votes
Would salvation have been possible if Jesus had died without shedding His blood?
This is an impossible question to answer and not profitable to consider, IMHO. If Jesus could have died without bleeding and still saved us there are so many other aspects of the entire Scripture ...
- 9,448
12
votes
Was any early martyr of the Church sawn in two, as mentioned in Hebrews?
Was any martyr of the Church sawn in two, as mentioned in Hebrews?
The short answer is yes.
The term "death by sawing" indicates the act of sawing a living person in half, either sagitally (...
- 53.5k
8
votes
How do churches that have indefinitely suspended in-person services understand Hebrews 10:25?
We live in an age where "meeting together" doesn't have to mean face to face services. I noticed in the comments you said:
But that depends on getting what is so important about meeting ...
- 229
8
votes
Would salvation have been possible if Jesus had died without shedding His blood?
Would salvation have been possible if Jesus died without shedding His blood?
The only answer is possibly, but this is what God willed.
Ultimately God could have chosen another way to save mankind, but ...
- 53.5k
7
votes
Why did the reformers include the book of Hebrews in the canon?
As far as Calvin was concerned, his views on the canonicity of Hebrews can be found in his introductory comments to his commentary on Hebrews (here at pp. 16–17). He includes it "without hesitation" ...
7
votes
Conscience: Christ's sacrifice vs the blood of bulls and goats?
The answer to your question is further on in the chapter.
Hebrews 10:11-14 ESV And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ...
- 9,319
7
votes
How could Christ uphold the universe as a helpless babe?
The Trinitarian solution (according to the ecumenical Chalcedonian Definition) is that starting with Mary's conception (Luke 1:35) the Word (the second person of the Trinity, John 1:1):
entered ...
- 17.1k
6
votes
Accepted
From a Lutheran perspective, does Hebrews 6 mean that some who fall away can never be restored?
Paul Kretzmann, the son of a Lutheran pastor, wrote his Popular Commentary of the Bible, which "has been a favorite among confessional Lutherans since publication of the first volume in 1921.&...
- 14.8k
6
votes
Accepted
How sound are the arguments that Melchizedek invoked a Canaanite deity when he met Abraham?
Perhaps, some may agree with this (theophany). However, another way of looking at this passage in Hebrews is that the author is discussing an order or priestly appointment (precedent) without lineal ...
- 76
6
votes
We will judge angels? But we are lower than the angels
The simplest way to reconcile these passages is to dispute the KJV's translation of βραχύ as "a little." This is, in fact, what most other translations have done, including those that have no interest ...
- 371
5
votes
Accepted
Are we living with Angels in flesh?
Angelic apparitions could be either metaphoric or real depending on who you ask.
"Throughout Scripture, we see numerous instances in which angels were an integral part of God’s plan. One verse ...
- 53.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Why did heaven need to be purified by Christ's blood?
In Moses' time, the sanctuary was cleansed once a year on the Day of Atonement.
(Leviticus 16:30 KJV) For on that day shall the priest make an atonement
for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be ...
- 3,204
5
votes
How did Paul know so much about Melchizedek?
The writer of Hebrews approached the subject of Melchizedek through a combination of different avenues.
1) What’s listed explicitly in the text, through both direct information from scripture (the ...
- 51
5
votes
Accepted
How do Jehovah's Witnesses understand Hebrews 1?
The Jehovah’s Witness understanding is based upon their doctrine of the Son of God having been created by Jehovah God as his first created creature. They say the first thing Jehovah created was the ...
- 16.5k
5
votes
Scientific contradictions in bible
Thanks for asking here. Christians believe the Bible does not in fact contain contradictions, and the people who say it does have mostly not studied it closely. The specific issues you raise are ...
- 29.7k
5
votes
Accepted
In Hebrew 5:9, what changed about the Son's perfection?
Calvin has this to say about Hebrews 5:9, using the word 'sanctified' for 'perfect' :
Sanctified suits the passage better than "made perfect." The Greek word teleiotheis means both; but as he ...
- 19.1k
4
votes
Accepted
To JWs, how is Jesus Christ "the same yesterday and today, and forever"?
Pretty simply, actually. His pre-existence (yesterday) is explained as a special case:
Unlike any other human, Jesus lived in heaven as a spirit person before he was born on earth. (John 8:23) He ...
- 82
4
votes
To "once saved always saved" advocates, what does it mean that church leaders "keep watch over our souls"?
Because although Christians cannot lose their salvation, they can still appear before the Lord in shame rather than in confidence (1 John 2:28). The good shepherds who watch over the flock want them ...
- 7,470
4
votes
What does Hebrews 10:26 mean?
The passage is not talking about regular sins but in Matthew Henry's words it is talking about a total and final falling away.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
The sin here mentioned is a total and ...
- 1,418
4
votes
Accepted
How do the proponents of the idea that salvation once received cannot be lost explain Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-29?
The sin referred to is not sin in general, but going back to animal sacrifices, after the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross. See earlier in the chapter, as to what the Jewish priests were ...
- 64
4
votes
Accepted
Hebrews 5:1 and the pope
The short answer is “not really,” or at least, it wouldn’t apply only to the Pope.
The passage clearly refers directly to the Old Testament priesthood (see, e.g., Leviticus 16) and indirectly to ...
- 13k
4
votes
Accepted
What happened to Aaron's staff and the jar of manna placed by Moses in the Ark of the Covenant
After Solomon had built the temple in Jerusalem (960 B.C.) there was nothing in the Ark except the stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb (1 Kings 8:9 and 2 Chronicles 5:10). The NIV Study ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
If Israel is the vine that prefigures Jesus, the "true" vine, isn't Israel's purpose fulfilled?
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting ...
- 19.1k
4
votes
How do Protestant Christians understand the “Sabbath-rest for the people of God” in Hebrews chapter 4?
What does it mean for Protestant Christians to enter into the Sabbath rest for God's people as described in Hebrews chapter 4?
Since joining mainstream Protestantism in the 1980s (baptised in a ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
How do churches that have indefinitely suspended in-person services understand Hebrews 10:25?
The Reformed Presbyterian group I worship with has eagerly resumed in-person services as soon as it was possible to do so. But services / sermons remain as recordings either for those with Zoom or who ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Would salvation have been possible if Jesus had died without shedding His blood?
If the Son of God had died as a man without shedding his blood, then that would have been a violation of the plan of salvation worked out in the Godhead before any creation started. That is why ...
- 16.5k
3
votes
Accepted
How do proponents of the dual nature of man address Hebrews 4:12, "dividing soul and spirit"?
Proponents of dichotomism argue in two primary ways:
That the division is between soul and spirit, but that these are simply two aspects of the same thing
That the division occurs within the soul, ...
- 41.6k
3
votes
How do Catholics explain Hebrews 13:10 and John 6:54?
According the Catholic interpretation of the passages in the O.P.'s question, there is no contradiction between them.
To see this, it is helpful to look at the broader context of Hebrews 13:10. ...
- 13k
3
votes
Who wrote the book of Hebrews and is the book complete?
We do not know who wrote the book now known as the Epistle to the Hebrews, although at one stage it was thought that Paul was the author. Hebrews was never seriously attributed to James, brother of ...
- 14.3k
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