PERFECTION
PERDITION
20
OR
If Hebrews is not linked with Paul, then we have thirteen epistles from him (an ominous number, and linked with
Satan in the Scriptures), the balance of epistles during and after the Acts is upset, and moreover we have no epistle
during the Acts which gives the doctrine of the practical outworking and perfecting of faith with reward in view.
Hebrews stands to the Pentecostal church much in the same way as Philippians and 2 Timothy do to the prison
ministry of the apostle Paul, through which ministry the joint-Body, i.e. the Body of Christ, is unfolded.
If we were asked whose pen wrote the epistle to the Hebrews, we should hazard the opinion, for what it is worth,
that Luke was the amanuensis or editor, or possibly Silas. Luke was the close companion of Paul right to the end
(2 Tim. 4:11). We have not only his own writings (The Gospel and Acts) with which to compare, but also his
reporting of Paul's speeches in the Acts period. We have before remarked on the likeness of Luke's Greek style to
the Hebrews epistle, a feature which has been noticed by many scholars, and the Lucan tradition goes back, as we
have seen, to the beginning of Christianity.
As regards Silas as the possible pen-man, we know for a fact that he was closely linked with Paul during the
Acts. His name appears for the first time in Acts 15, where he is described as belonging to the `chief men among the
brethren' (Acts 15:22). He was commissioned together with Barnabas by the apostles and elders to write the
Jerusalem Council's decisions and to take and explain the letter at Antioch.
He then became attached to Paul and accompanied him on his second missionary journey and both were
imprisoned at Philippi. He was with Paul at Corinth where the Thessalonian epistles were probably written in the
joint names of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. Silas is probably the Jewish and Silvanus the Latin form of his
name. There are two other references to him, in 2 Corinthians 1:19 and 1 Peter 5:12, where he seems to be
associated with the writing of 1 Peter.
Thus there are four passages leading one to think that he had a part in the production of some document. This
assumes that the Silas of the Acts and the Silvanus of 1 Peter are the same person. Although Silas was a common
name and therefore one cannot be dogmatic on this point, this seems most probable, as Lightfoot suggests in his
Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul. One would have expected some distinguishing remark if this were not so.
Some scholars look on Silvanus as only the bearer of 1 Peter, but as E.G. Selwyn points out, if he were the
bearer only, epempsa, `sent', not egrapsa, `have written', would have been the more natural word. Selwyn looks on
Silas as Peter's pen-man and maintains there are striking affinities between this epistle and that to the Hebrews.
Among them are the following. Geuesthai, `Taste', in 6:4,5 may, in view of its context, be derived, as in 1 Peter
2:3, from Psalm 34:8; and eulogian with kleronomein in Hebrews 12:17 and 1 Peter 3:9 may have a similar
connection.
The command to `pursue peace', in Hebrews 12:14 has also, as in 1 Peter 3:11, the same source. The classical
word komizesthai occurs in Hebrews 10:36; 11:39 and 1 Peter 1:9; 5:4 in contexts which are strikingly similar to
other words and phrases which reflect similarities, as `the word of God is living' (Heb. 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23). The
Lord Jesus is the Shepherd (Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25); the `last time' and the `last days' and the `little while' before
the Lord's Second Coming are parallels. There is a close affinity in the doctrine of redemption and atonement, as
expressed in Hebrews 9 and 1 Peter 2 and 3. Christ was amomos, `without spot' (Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19); He
suffered for sins `once', hapax (Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 3:18); He `bore our sins' (Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:24); His blood was
the `blood of sprinkling' (Heb. 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:2).
The Pauline idea of the imitation of Christ is reflected in Hebrews 12:1,2. Both epistles were written with a
background of persecution. Both deal with the `reproach' that believers suffer (Heb. 10:29-33,37; 1 Pet. 4:14,
17-19) and in such circumstances, believers are `strangers and pilgrims on the earth' (Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11).
E. G. Selwyn comments:
`I cannot get away from the impression of a relationship between Hebrews 13 and 1 Peter, which goes beyond
what common sources or common doctrinal tradition, or even common circumstances, will explain. There seem
to be the same problems of church life, the same attitude to them behind both, the same need of hospitality, or
sympathy, of active well-doing, of inner cohesion, and subjection towards the Church's leaders; the same sense
of reproach and of being without an earthly home; the same necessity to imitate Jesus in His suffering; the same