Publisher's Synopsis
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Though traditionally credited to the Apostle Paul, the letter is anonymous and most modern scholars, both conservative and critical, believe its author was not Paul himself but a member of the later Pauline Christian community. Written to encourage its readers not to "shrink back" from testifying to Jesus or return to Judaism, Hebrews is more a sermon than a letter. It portrays Jesus as the high priest who sacrificed himself to atone for humanity's sins, superseding the sacrifices of the "old covenant" mediated by Moses, which it characterizes as "obsolete."
