Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews. By DAVID M. MOFFITT.

Abstract

David Moffitt’s published version of his doctoral dissertation (completed at Duke under Richard B. Hays in 2010) presents a robust case for a bold thesis: far from being an oversight or deliberate omission, the resurrection is an essential presupposition in the Letter to the Hebrews and is in particular logically central to the text’s understanding of atonement. The first chapter sets out the modern scholarly consensus that the resurrection is all but absent from Hebrews. Moffitt identifies a common assumption that Hebrews operates with a two-stage death/exaltation model based on the importance of these two moments in Yom Kippur; this misunderstanding of sacrifice is addressed in chapter 4. Chapter 2 argues that Hebrews 1–2 presupposes the necessity of Jesus’ resurrection. Moffitt understands Hebrews 1 as an enthronement scene, arguing at length for the meaning ‘heavenly world’ for οἰκουμένη in 1:6 (cf. 2:5). Moffitt’s particular contribution here is to connect this with Jesus’ humanity in Hebrews 2, not as a sort of proto-Chalcedonian balancing act, but as the ‘requisite qualification’ (p. 143) for Jesus’ exaltation above the angels. Support for the plausibility of such a reading is found in Second Temple texts which place emphasis on the restoration of Adam. Moffitt’s account explains why angels feature so prominently in Hebrews 1–2, without needing to posit angel veneration among the audience or Hebrews’ polemic against this (hypotheses with no basis in the text).