Let us go on to maturity

This has taken quite a while to write.  It's been a very busy two months or so.  It was tough to get this out by Christmas.  I apologize for content that's not exactly relevant to the Advent. –mem

We are in Hebrews in church, and we came upon chapter six today (ed. now a long time ago).  It proved a fertile ground for questions, which is hardly surprising:  it comes up in eternal security debates all the time.  It's practically de rigueur for anyone opposing eternity security, and so most of the conversation about the passage seems to revolve around the subject—especially on the Internet.

If we take a bit of a step back, though, it seems that there's more here than we might usually think.  Establishing any sort of detailed context is really beyond the scope of my blog, but I think we can successfully argue that the warnings here are directed primarily to Christian Jews who were tempted to return to their Judaism.

The elementary principles enumerated in chapter six really continue from the rebuke of chapter five ("For though by this time you should be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God," 5:12).

I think we can find parallels to  the principles in chapter 6 in the Old Testament.  So for example (non-exhaustive list):

• Instruction about washings (Gk. βαπτισμοις, baptisms): washing of priests (Ex 29.4, 30.19,21, 40.12; et c.), washing of sacrifices (Ex 29.17; Le 1.9,13, et c.), washing of various articles (Le 6.27, 13.6,34,54, 15.5, et c.), washing of laity (Le 11.25,28,40, 15.5, et c.).
  
• Laying on of hands: on sacrifices (Ex 29.10,15,19; Le 4.15, 8.14,18,22, 16.21; Nu 8.12; 2Ch 29:23), on the condemned (Le 24.14), to inaugurate (Nu 27.23, De 34.9).
  
• The resurrection of the dead: appearance before God (Jo 19:26); with respect to Messiah (Ps 21.4, 23.6, 41.12, 49.9, et c.); promise of end of death (Is 25.8), of the righteous and wicked (Da 12.2)
  
• Eternal judgment: of the righteous (Ps 1.5, and wicked, 1.6), of the beast (whose judgment stands in distinction to the everlasting kingdom, Da 7.14,27), of the wicked (Da 12.2).

It is possible, of course, to find each of the points outlined in the New Testament as well, although questions remain about how much access the readers of this letter would have had to NT letters and gospels.  (Dating Hebrews is not entirely straightforward.  Errant skeptics presents a consensus of around AD 68, but there are arguments to be read on both sides.)

Contextually I find the argument for the Mosaic reading (i.e., a reading of these items as primarily from the law and prophets) stronger than the NT reading.  The oracles of God—the law and prophets—point to Jesus Christ, and I think this is a principle point of Jewish Christianity.  (Paul's evangelistic works to the Gentiles seem to be based in more natural theology, viz. his defense on Mars' Hill; but when preaching in the synagogue he argues from special revelation that Jesus is the Christ; i.a. Ac 9.22, 17.1–3.)  For the first-century Jew, Christianity really begins by understanding the Old Testament in the light of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

All this to get to the warnings (whew!):

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings,the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

I would suggest:

1. The "dead works" here are those enumerated under the old Mosaic covenant; the foundation is the covenant itself.
   
2. The impossibility of repentance here is contingent not on the activity of the person, but on the will of God (This we will do if God permits).
   
3. Being enlightened means (comprehends) tasting the heavenly gift, sharing the Holy Spirit, tasting the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.
   
4. Falling away means (comprehends) crucifying the Son of God again and holding him up to contempt.

The fourth point is perhaps the most important for sake of this discussion, because it highlights the absolute difference between the sacrifice of Christ and those sacrifices offered under the law—which the rest of Hebrews discusses in some length.  (The language and content of the book are spiral bound—you can always descend a level and find the same language and content re-referenced.)

This falling away is a specific sort of it:  recrucifying Christ and putting him to open shame.  How is this done?  I think by returning to their old sacrificial system and to the rest of the law.  (If the letter were written before AD 70, the temptation would be relatively strong as Judaism was still a protected religion in Roman lands while Christianity was not.  The theme of persecution appears in chs 10 and elsewhere.)

While it's tempting to take the verses in isolation and draw conclusions about our own security in Christ, I think context warrants a different reading.  More likely, the passage is speaking to the Jews of a specific danger:  that of falling back to the Mosaic covenant.  These warnings, incidentally, parallel those of Hebrews 10:26–28, another commonly discussed passage regarding the security of the believer.  Perhaps I'll get to them eventually.