God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers
in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has
spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom
also He made the world. (Heb. 1:1-2 | 1995 NASB)
Many
proponents of Sola Scriptura have used this passage to (1) support the doctrine
and/or (2) refute the Latter-day Saint belief in modern revelation.
Notwithstanding, this is eisegesis of the passage, one that I exegete at:
As I
discuss, one problem with absolutizing this text in the way that many critics
do, being consistent, one would also
have to argue the passage is teaching that Jesus played no active role before
entering mortality (or even that the text rejects the personal pre-existence of
Jesus). As an example of this more consistent approach to this (mis)reading,
consider the following from Nathaniel Lardner (1684-1768):
It has been thought by some that Christ, or
the Son, appeared to the Patriarchs, and was often-times sent upon messages to
men by the Supreme Bring, before the times of the Gospel. But where is the
proof of this? It was the opinion of some of the ancient writers of the Church,
who had a philosophy that was a mixture of Pythagorism and Platonism.
Nevertheless, this supposition, that God had employed the Son in former times,
before the Gospel, is overthrown by the very first words of the Apostle in the
epistle to the Hebrews. God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the
Prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. It is also inconsistent
with the Apostle’s arguments to care and circumspection, stedfastness and
perseverance, which follows afterwards, Hebr. ii. 1. 2. 3. (Nathaniel
Lardner, A Letter Written in the Year
1730, Concerning the Question, Whether the Logos Supplied the Place of an human
Soul in the Person of Jesus Christ [London: 1793], 18-19)
