Pius X, 1903-1914

The Author and Method of Composition of the Epistle to the Hebrews ¹

[Reply of the Biblical Commission, June 24, 1914]

2176. I. Whether so much force is to be attributed to the doubts which in the first centuries possessed the minds of some in the Occident regarding the divine inspiration and Pauline origin of the Epistle to the Hebrews, because of the special abuse of heretics, that, although aware of the perpetual, unanimous, and continued affirmation of the Oriental Fathers, to which was added after the fourth century the full agreement of the entire Western Church; weighing also the acts of the Highest Pontiffs and of the sacred Councils, especially of Trent, and also the perpetual practice of the universal Church, one may hesitate to classify it with certainty not only among the canonical—which is determined regarding faith—but also among the genuine epistles of the Apostle Paul?—Reply: In the negative.

2177. II. Whether the arguments which are usually drawn from the unusual absence of the name of Paul, and the omission of the customary introduction and salutation in the Epistle to the Hebrews—or from the purity of the same Greek language, the elegance and perfection of diction and style,—or from the way by which the Old Testament is cited in it and arguments made from it,—or from certain differences which supposedly existed between the doctrine of this and of the other epistles of Paul, somehow are able to weaken the Pauline origin of the same; or whether, on the other hand, the perfect agreement of doctrine and opinions, the likeness of admonitions and exhortations, and also the harmony of the phrases and of the words themselves celebrated also by some non-Catholics, which are observed between it and the other writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles, demonstrate and confirm the same Pauline origin?—Reply: In the negative to the first part; in the affirmative to the second.

2178. III. Whether the Apostle Paul is so to be considered the author of this epistle that it should necessarily be affirmed that he not only conceived and expressed it all by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but also endowed it with that form with which it stands out?—Reply: In the negative, save for a later judgment of the Church.