Hebrews in Patristic Perspective

Abstract

This article acquaints pastors and other ministers who may have occasion to preach and teach from Hebrews with the perspectives of the epistle's first interpreters. After reviewing the place of the epistle among the homilies and commentaries on Scripture written during the patristic period, the article summarizes the contributions of Hebrews to the development of patristic theology and provides an orientation to the resources that are available for consulting the fathers' interpretation of specific passages from Hebrews. While the fathers' readings of Hebrews cannot simply be reproduced by the contemporary interpreter, they do suggest the place the epistle might occupy in a canonical reading of Scripture and its relationship to the church's narration of the divine story.