Monday, February 23, 2015

Hebrews 1:1-2--does it preclude modern revelation?

Heb 1:1-2 reads:

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days, spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds [Greek: the ages]

It is not uncommon to have this passage cited against there being modern revelation and additional scriptures being revealed after the cessation of the Bible (although the obvious fact that Hebrews, probably written in the mid AD 60s, was not the last book of the New Testament to have been written and the implications of this fact are usually glossed over; odd that . . .)

A couple of years ago on an LDS discussion forum, I offered the following interpretation of the text against such a charge, which I think still holds up today:

The problem is that, by taking the absolutist view that many critics (e.g., Kurt Van Gorden in his booklet, Mormonism) is that it would preclude the letters of Paul, the Catholic epistles, the Revelation of St. John, etc., being divinely inspired Scripture, because for it to be "God-breathed" revelation, God would have to inspire the authors of such texts. Indeed, it would mean that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews was not inspired when he wrote it, as it would preclude post-ascension revelation!

In reality, all that these verses state is that God spoke in the past through the prophets and during the time of Christ, through His Son, Jesus Christ. It does not touch upon the question of post-ascension revelation, apostles, and prophets, so in reality, critics who bring up this passage against LDS teachings are, essentially, begging the question.

Blog Archive