Bible Trivia - 4/30/2008

Question: For which New Testament book is there least evidence of its exact authorship?

Answer: Hebrews.

Comments: Though Hebrews was traditionally credited to the Apostle Paul, the letter is anonymous. There is nothing in the letter itself that makes the claim that Paul wrote the work. Most modern scholars, both conservative and critical, refute Pauline authorship.

One scholar commented that its traditonal title, "Th Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews" is suitable except for the facts that it is not an epistle, it was not written by Paul, and it was not addressed to the Hebrews.

Criticism of Pauline authorship is not a new phenomenon. Origen (185-254), writing in the third century, judged that "God only knows" who wrote Hebrews.

"But who wrote the epistle God only knows certainly" (Eusebius 6.25, 11-14).