Hebrews — the pluralistic background

I’ve added a reply comment to Jim’s post on the OT Background to Hebrews. For the larger context I’ve attached a pdf to this post.

In addition, the excerpt below adds a bit more to the challenge to knowing the background of the readers of Hebrews:

“One of the reasons for the manifold background ideologies suggested by scholars is that, as discussed above, interpreters often attempt to provide a background ideology for the subject that they believe to be the central theme of the epistle.(footnote 59).”

And footnote 59 says:

“This tendency can be clearly seen by the fact that Käsemann prefers the Gnostic background for his pilgrimage motif whereas Thompson suggests Platonism for the temple discussion, and still others have recourse to Qumran theology for the Melchizedek discussion, and to Philo’s Logos doctrine for the superiority of Jesus to the angels and Moses.”

Kiwoong Son, Zion Symbolism in Hebrews: Hebrews 12:18-24 as a Hermeneutical Key to the Epistle (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2005).