Christology and the Concept of Faith in Hebrews 5:11-6:20

Abstract

"In recent years some scholars have proposed that faith in Hebrews does not have Jesus as its object. For example, Erich Grässer points out that, although Paul’s concept of faith has an unbreakable relationship with the salvation event (i.e. faith in Christ), faith in Hebrews is not directed to Christ in any way. He believes that faith in Hebrews is transformed from a soteriological, personal reference into an ethical category of steadfastness.1 Grässer’s basic motive for advocating the de-Christologized ethical view lies in his understanding of eschatology in Hebrews. He argues that the eschatological paradox of “already” and “not yet” is dissolved into the purely temporal scheme of inde˜nite time in the future. The remaining time (ejpÇloipoÍ crovnoÍ) before Christ’s coming is considered the period for the testing of faith.2 Because of the delay of the parousia “the existential meaning of faith, characteristic of an earlier period, yields, as time goes by, to the treatment of faith as a virtue appropriate to a situation where the parousia is no longer expected soon”"