The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

CHAPTER ONE THE BOOK OF HEBREWS: THE ABROGATION OF THE MOSAIC LAW Introduction Most discussions concerning the Christian and the Law revolve around the early writings of Paul or the book of Acts with the result that the book of Hebrews does not figure prominently in the debate. One reason for this may be that the sensitive question of the place of the Mosaic Law in the life of the early Church is thought to have been sufficiently answered by the time Hebrews was written. Thus, its message concerning the Law is considered superfluous, if not to the lifestyle of the first century Christian, at least to the debate about the Law for the twentieth century scholar. Another reason for the absence of thi book from discussions of the Law may be that many understand the argument to focus on the person of Christ rather than Law. The goal of the author of Hebrews according to this understanding of the book was to encourage Jewish adherents to hold fast their confe ion of Christ, which he accomplished by focusing on the superiority of the person of Chri t, favorably comparing Him to angels, Moses and Aaron. Whatever the reason, Hebrew i neglected in di cu 10n about th end of the La , while attention i placed on Roman , Galatian and Act . It i th ont nti n f thi hapt r, th however, that n bo k in the ew tam nt p ak m r p w rfull abrogation of th Law in th hri tian c nom th n th b k . Thu , th 1 f thi ch pt r i t 1 rify th c ntributi n whi h H br mak t pl f th L in th lit