18
B.- Yes, perhaps `signature' was hardly the right word. Suppose I alter it and say his `sign manual', that is
some thing written by the Apostle that was agreed upon as an indication of his undoubted authorship.
A.- If you can show me that, the argument is at an end.
B.- As you will see by referring to 2 Thessalonians 2:2, early in the history of the church a spurious epistle was
circulated purporting to have come from Paul. To safeguard the church from any further deception on that score, the
Apostle undertook to write with his own hand, as a token in every epistle, a certain salutation, knowing that God
could prevent any other writer of the time from adopting the same form of words.
`The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen' (2 Thess. 3:17,18).
There are two points here, one which we must believe the early church was fully competent to judge, that is, the
actual handwriting of the Apostle, and the other, which we can examine for ourselves, namely, the particular
salutation to which he drew attention. Suppose you read the salutations at the end of the epistles from where we are
reading to Hebrews itself. That should be enough evidence for our purpose at the moment.
A.- (Reads) :
`Grace be with thee. Amen' (1 Tim. 6:21).
`Grace be with you. Amen' (2 Tim 4:22)
`Grace be with you all. Amen' (Tit. 3:15).
`The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen' (Philemon 25).
`Grace be with you all. Amen' (Heb. 13:25).
B.- You can examine the remainder at your leisure and also the forms of salutation adopted by the other
Apostles, and you will find that it is as Paul declared.
A.- Before we leave this important item, I feel it would be wise to anticipate a possible objection. The book of
the Revelation ends with the self-same form of words, and, at first sight, this appears to modify your argument.
B.- We must certainly consider the bearing of this fact. First of all, however, let us be clear as to the Apostle's
intention when he wrote 2 Thessalonians 3:17,18. Did he say that no other writer would ever use these words in any
circumstances?
A.- No, he said nothing about other writers, all he undertook was to use that formula himself. It is we who have
discovered, long afterwards, that no other writer did in fact use this formula when writing an epistle to the church,
although this may have been implied in the Apostle's promise.
B.- There is almost unanimous testimony that John wrote the Apocalypse about A.D. 96, or over twenty years
after the Apostle Paul's death, and by that time there could be no fear of an epistle being sent as from Paul with any
likelihood of deceiving the church, and there was certainly no reason why the canon of the New Testament should
not conclude with the grace of the Lord, simply because thirty or more years previously Paul had promised to use
this form of salutation in his own handwriting.
A.- Yes, I am sure no reasonable person could really use the close of the Revelation as an objection.
B.- Well, then, I think we can now pass on to our real study, with the conviction that Hebrews may be included
as one of Paul's fourteen epistles.
A.- How do you consider these epistles should be arranged, for nearly every commentator I have consulted gives
a different date for their writing, and often a different order also.
B.- For our present purpose neither the dates, nor the order in which these epistles were written, is of vital
importance. There are three historical facts, all found within the pages of holy writ, which I propose to use to place
these epistles in their proper relationship.