Essay Example on Hebrews Letter: Reaffirming Faith in the Face of Persecution

Introduction

The faith of Christianity is one of the challenged faiths across the world. Christianity has undergone numerous changes and effects that threaten its followers. However, the inaction of the letter to the Hebrews was enacted with a distinctive objective of encouraging the Christians to cling on the faith, despite the challenges from persecution and threatens. The letter addresses Jesus as a Son of God, with consideration to his human role. More so, the letter addresses the role of Jesus as the bridge between the Christian faith and God. Therefore, the aim of the letter strengthens the grip of Christians into the Christianity faith. Therefore, the essay seeks to critically elucidate how the Letter to the Hebrews strengthens the Christian commitment to their faith.

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The Hebrews believed that the awaited Messiah was a military king who will come and wipe off all their enemies. However, the awaited Messiah seems to have taken a different angle of approach, unlike the expectations of the Hebrews. However, Jesus came as a mere man who was later arrested by the Jewish leaders, suffered, and crucified by the Romans. Therefore, this weakened the Hebrews in their Christian faith. Moreover, the resurrection of Christ and living his believers on earth to suffer under the yoke of the Roman persecution further eroded the faith of Christians in their faith. However, the letter gave a new life to the Christians to hold more on their faith, despite the oppression.

Faith

The original audience of the letter was geared towards fostering the faith to the Christians due to the prolonged persecution that rapidly shook the Christians and their faith. As Small, (P.17) outlined, there were two well-known times of persecution for Christians in the first century. The Roman Empire Claudius expelled Jewish from the City of Rome, while Emperor Nero Persecuted Christians in the vicinity of Rome around A.D. 64 (Scholz, P.29). Though the resurrection of Christ, Christians are called to persevere against any persecution. More so, they are called for the prevalence of the oppression from any emanating religion. Therefore, Christians are called upon to hold and have faith that their endurance will usher them to victory. Therefore, through following the letter, the Christians are called upon to hold on and develop a concrete faith in their religion.

Rejection of the local training

Persecution in Christianity or the Hebrews was higher, forcing them to abandon their religion and adopt the locals. Therefore, more temptation was subjected to them. During the letter writing, Christians could avoid persecution by rejecting their distinctive beliefs, and identify themselves more to the local Jewish community. Therefore, the letter of Hebrew talks about a heavenly God and a true almighty to be worshiped. Therefore, Christians should follow the teachings of the letter to strengthen and foster their belief as they wait for their savior.

Christians are called to preserve the Mosaic laws and refrain from worship other gods. The local Jewish worshiped a different god, as they continued to enjoy numerous benefits such as evading tax payment, which was legally accepted due to their faith. “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them (Hebrews 13:9).” Thus, this provided an avenue for Christians to backslide and rejoin the local religions. However, the letter to the Hebrew calls for Christians to have stronger faith and worship the Almighty God, as they wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Works Cited

Fincham, Kenneth. "The King James bible: crown, church and people." The Journal of Ecclesiastical History (2018): 1-21.

Scholz, Dan J. Catholic Epistles, Hebrews, and Revelation: introducing the New Testament. Anselm Academic, 2016.https://topcat.switchinc.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1202842

Small, Brian C. "Muted Voices of the New Testament: Readings in the Catholic Epistles and Hebrews." (2018): 505-508.doi: 10.5325/bullbiblrese.28.3.0505