Source: “SACRIFICE AND ATONEMENT: Psychological Motives and Biblical Patterns”, By Stephen Finlan, Fortress Press, 2016.
Fear and Lothing in the Letter To The Hebrews.wav
The podcast, "Fear and Loathing in the Epistle to the Hebrews," explores the author of Hebrews' complex and often contradictory stance on sacrifice and its role in salvation. The author grapples with a central dilemma: how to portray the Jewish sacrificial system as a prefiguration of Christ's perfect offering while simultaneously criticizing it as superficial and ineffective. While Hebrews emphasizes the ultimate obsolescence of the old covenant through Christ's "once for all" sacrifice, it paradoxically maintains a strong dependence on sacrificial imagery to explain Christ's atoning work, contrasting with other New Testament writings like Paul's. The text also delves into potential psychological underpinnings for Hebrews' strong emphasis on punishment and suffering, suggesting a background of harsh discipline and a "poisonous pedagogy" that influences its depiction of God and salvation as mediated through suffering and ritual, rather than directly through faith or an incarnational understanding of Christ's life.
Topic 1: The Dilemma of Sacrifice in Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews grapples with a significant internal conflict concerning the Jewish sacrificial cult. On one hand, the author views these ancient rituals as divinely revealed explanatory systems that prefigured the ultimate self-offering of Christ. This perspective suggests that the earthly temple, its practices, and the sacrifices served as models or metaphors, quite literally operating as systems for explaining salvation, specifically as a cleansing. However, simultaneously, Hebrews critically evaluates the cult, highlighting its superficial, material nature and its fundamental inability to truly take away sins. The dilemma arises when Hebrews insists that this ineffective and temporary ritual prefigured the complete and perfect atonement brought by Christ. This creates a theological problem for the author: how could Christ's eternally effective sacrifice be based on a preceding practice that was, by Hebrews' own account, ineffective, superficial, and, until Christ's advent, inherently incoherent? This tension is explored, and the source notes that Hebrews struggles to fully resolve it.
Topic 2: Continuity, Discontinuity, and the Elevation of Sacrifice Hebrews exhibits a complex and seemingly contradictory attitude towards the old covenant cult. It articulates clear weaknesses of the sacrificial system: its temporary effect, requiring constant repetition in contrast to Christ's "once for all" cleansing; its supersession by the new covenant, being merely "a shadow of the good things to come"; and its superficiality, only purifying the body and flesh but unable to perfect the conscience or truly remove sins. This represents the discontinuity. Yet, Hebrews also emphasizes a profound continuity. It acknowledges the cult's limited usefulness, noting that animal sacrifices could indeed purify the "flesh." This allows Hebrews to employ a "logic of fulfillment," where the old way is seen as a partial efficacy that foreshadows the greater, more perfect reality brought by Christ. For example, if the blood of animals could purify the flesh, "how much more" would the blood of Christ purify the conscience. In essence, while criticizing the old, Hebrews uses its framework to explain and elevate Christ's sacrifice, making sacrificial concepts central to its understanding of salvation (soteriology).
Topic 3: Hebrews' Unique Dependence on Sacrificial Metaphors Compared to Paul The author of Hebrews relies heavily, almost exclusively, on the sacrificial metaphor to communicate his concept of salvation. He meticulously allegorizes various cultic details, such as the veil, the sanctuary, the role of the priest, and the transporting and sprinkling of blood, applying these elements directly to Christ and his work. This intense focus suggests that without this sacrificial model, Hebrews would struggle to articulate its vision of salvation. In stark contrast, Paul, while also using sacrificial metaphors, demonstrates greater flexibility and inventiveness. Paul readily switches between different images and metaphors for salvation, and he does not engage in the detailed allegorization of sacrificial rituals in the same way Hebrews does. This distinction highlights Hebrews' unique and profound need for the sacrificial framework, which, despite its inherent problems, is indispensable for the author's theological communication.
Topic 4: Typology and the Obsolescence of the Old Covenant A central hermeneutical (interpretative) principle in Hebrews is typology, which understands the old sacrificial system as a "type" or an image that prefigures a "better thing" – the superior reality brought by Christ. The animal sacrifices are thus presented as not embodying the "true form" of these realities and incapable of taking away sins, which necessitates a "change in the law." Christ is depicted as bringing a "better covenant" and actively "abolishing the first in order to establish the second" through his self-sacrifice. This culminates in the concept of obsolescence, where the "first covenant" itself is declared "obsolete" and "growing old," signifying its impending disappearance. It is crucial to understand that this obsolescence is a conceptual or ideational supersession, meaning that older beliefs and symbols are superseded by newer ones, rather than a blanket condemnation of Judaism or an ethnic transfer of blessings.
Topic 5: The Broad Scope of Legal Change Beyond Cultic Regulations The source disputes the notion that Hebrews' argument for obsolescence is limited solely to the cultic regulations of the Old Testament. It contends that this interpretation is misleading because Hebrews is considering the law as a whole. The text explicitly states that "when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well." This implies a comprehensive shift, not just a modification of priestly or sacrificial commandments. Furthermore, key terms frequently used by Hebrews, such as "law," "ministry," "covenant," and "promises," are understood to have broad meanings that extend beyond mere cultic matters. The author asserts that Jesus' "more excellent ministry" as mediator of a "better covenant" and "better promises" signifies a transformation that encompasses the entire legal framework, not just a subset of its regulations.
Topic 6: The Influence of Platonic Thought on Hebrews' Theology Hebrews incorporates elements of Platonic, specifically Middle Platonic, ontology into its theological framework. This influence is most apparent in its consistent emphasis on the superiority of the heavenly realm over the earthly. The earthly temple and its rituals are presented as mere "sketches and shadows" that clumsily copy a higher, heavenly reality. The "true form" of spiritual realities is not found in the visible, tangible world. This Platonic thinking also manifests in Hebrews' use of the principle that singularity is superior to multiplicity, particularly when comparing Jesus' unique, "once for all" sacrifice to the repeated, multitudinous Levitical sacrifices. By integrating these Platonic concepts, Hebrews elevates Christ's singular act to a divine and eternally effective plane, highlighting the ultimate perfection and finality of his offering compared to the imperfect earthly rituals. This demonstrates how Jewish eschatology can be blended with popular Platonic principles without losing its Jewish identity.
Topic 7: The Heavenly Sanctuary and the True Moment of Atonement Hebrews' understanding of atonement posits that the climactic moment of purification and forgiveness does not occur solely at Christ's death on the cross, but rather when his blood is presented in the heavenly sanctuary. This follows a Levitical concept where atonement is completed when the blood is brought into the Holy of Holies. Jesus, in Hebrews' theology, serves as the high priest who enters and performs priestly functions in an actual structure that exists in heaven. He presents "his atoning offering to God in heaven," mirroring, yet vastly surpassing, the annual ritual performed by earthly high priests. This implies that Jesus could not have performed this priestly function on earth. Therefore, while his death is crucial, it is the subsequent presentation of himself and his blood in the heavenly sanctuary that constitutes the actual moment of atonement, a significant emphasis seen in passages describing Jesus' entrance into the heavenly sanctuary and his sitting at God's right hand.
Topic 8: The Domestication of Jeremiah's New Covenant Vision Despite quoting Jeremiah's prophecy about a "new covenant" twice, Hebrews significantly alters and "domesticates" Jeremiah's original, more radical vision. Jeremiah's concept of the new covenant involved a profound, inward transformation, where God would write the law directly on people's hearts and they would all know God personally, without any need for priestly mediation or cultic involvement; forgiveness was direct and unmediated. However, Hebrews retains and reintroduces priestly and cultic categories, presenting salvation as accomplished vicariously through Jesus, the "high priest," and through the offering of his body. This re-imposition of old covenant logic, such as the necessity of bloodshed for forgiveness, on Jeremiah's vision distorts the prophetic idea. It shifts the focus from a direct, God-wrought change of heart to a mediated atonement through sacrifice, thereby obscuring Jeremiah's vision of an unmediated, inward spiritual transformation.
Topic 9: Psychological Underpinnings of Hebrews' Theology The source offers a psychological interpretation of Hebrews' theological perspectives, suggesting that the author's intense focus on blood, innocent suffering, divine discipline, punishment, and the endurance of abuse may be linked to his personal experiences. This analysis proposes that Hebrews' emphasis on God's "discipline" and "punishment" as corrective, and even as a sign of God's love, could be a "red flag" indicating a background of strict or abusive treatment, perhaps from parents or a rigid religious upbringing. Such experiences could lead to a "nervous perfectionism" and a "perfectionist and judgmental cast" in his religious thought, contributing to fear-filled ideas of God. The source connects this to the concept of "poisonous pedagogy," where children are taught that punishment is beneficial and necessary for their moral development, leading them to internalize an ideology of "just deserts" and see suffering as a means of appeasing an angry authority figure.
Topic 10: An Alternative Incarnational Soteriology within Hebrews Despite the dominance of sacrificial imagery, Hebrews also contains an alternative model of salvation, which the source suggests is more consistent with the teachings of Jesus and offers a critique of Hebrews' own primary framework. This "incarnational soteriology" emphasizes the saving power of Christ's incarnation—God becoming human, sharing in human flesh and blood, and experiencing human sufferings. Through this lived experience, Jesus gained compassion and understanding, lived a sinless and obedient life, and thus became a model for humanity, "bringing many children to glory." This model suggests that salvation arises from God's solidarity with humans—the divine Son's full participation in human life—which opens the way to salvation. It implies that spiritual repair, rather than a ritual remedy or a payment for sin, is the core of salvation, and that no specific ritual action or death was inherently required to trigger God's love or conquer death. While Hebrews attempts to merge this incarnational perspective with its sacrificial theology, the source argues that the incarnational model inherently offers a different path to understanding how Jesus saved people even before his crucifixion.