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New Testament Studies

Table of Contents - 2009 - Volume 55, Issue 02  

Articles

Zwei harte Knoten: Todes- und Gerichtsangst im Hebräerbrief*

Knut Backhausa1

a1 Lehrstuhl für Neutestamentliche Exegese und biblische Hermeneutik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, D-80539 München, Germany email: knut.backhaus@kbahs.de

Abstract

Hebrews 2.14–15 goes beyond the epistle's cultic symbolism and embeds its image of Christ in a poly-mythic framework, thereby illuminating its existential relevance. Faith enables the believer to see through death in order to cope with fear of death. The author does not reflect explicitly on anxiety about death but integrates it into the Christ drama, thus inspiring his addressees to transform their conceptualization of self and purpose (‘terror management’). Arousing eschatological fear of judgment (6.4–8; 10.26–31; 12.16–17) forms part of the deliberative rhetorical strategy. Immediately subsequent to the warnings, the addressees are guided to the opposite emotion of hope. To postulate a theological perpetuum (exclusion of ‘second repentance’) on the basis of a pathetic temporale would be to miss the emotion-centred guidance of the hearer, the rhetorical truth game, and the pragmatic intention of Hebrews.

Keywords

  • Epistle to the Hebrews;
  • fear of death;
  • second repentance;
  • rhetoric;
  • eschatology;
  • ars moriendi

Footnotes

* Main Paper read at the SNTS General Meeting at Lund, Sweden, in 2008. As against the draft handed out on this occasion, the references for further reading are considerably reduced.

— Dedicated to Professor Joachim Gnilka on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

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