Introduction
Among the books
that comprise the New Testament, few incite as much controversy about the
nature of their authorship as the letter that begins not with a greeting, but
with an assertion about how God communicates to his people. Commonly called
“Hebrews” because of its extremely Jewish slant in argumentation and
assumptions, this book gives an insight into the superiority of Jesus Christ
over all previous revelations from God. The question that plagues scholars of
the work is simply, “Who wrote it?”
This question has
been beaten and battered throughout the centuries and no conclusion has been
reached. There are, however, a few leading theories as to its authorship. This
paper will strive to present the cases for the most widely suggested authors
and the arguments for and against each suggestion, as well as how each
suggestion has been accepted throughout history. That stated, the most commonly
suggested authors of the book of Hebrews in our day, arranged in order of age
of the view, are: (1) Paul, (2) Barnabas, (3) Luke, (4) Apollos, and (5)
Priscilla.
