The primary focus of this book is to demonstrate how Hebrews represents,
in view of its historical and religious context, human fidelity to God.
Thus, the basic thesis is twofold. First, with regard to the
divine-human relationship in the ancient Mediterranean world, the belief
in the reciprocity rationale was one primary dynamic for establishing
fidelity to a relationship and has been applied by some scholars, such
as David deSilva, to Hebrews as the way to understand its strategy for
creating perseverance. A major problem with the application of this
dynamic is that a common optimistic anthropological assumption is
associated with the various reciprocity systems in the ancient world,
both Jewish and pagan. This assumption is required if reciprocity is to
be effective for establishing ongoing fidelity. Second, there was,
however, a middle Judaic stream that can be traced from the period of
the exile which held to a pessimistic anthropology. This anthropological
assumption crippled the perceived success of reciprocity to secure
fidelity. Thus, the solution to God's people's inability to remain
faithful was an act of God that transformed the human condition and
enabled faithfulness to the relationship. The argument of this book is
that Hebrews, with its emphasis upon the inauguration of the new
covenant by Jesus' high priestly ministry, belongs to this latter stream
of thought in understanding how fidelity is secured between God and his
people. Hebrews, thus, implicitly rejects the rationale of reciprocity
for fidelity. The implications of this offers a fresh perspective on the
soteriology of Hebrews. 'Jason Whitlark has overcome what many have
regarded as an insoluble problem with regard to Hebrews: a way in which
it can be understood in the context of the overwhelming emphasis on
grace in the New Testament epistolary literature. His use of the
category of divine enablement makes possible a new and refreshing
reading.' -- Sharyn Dowd is Professor for Adult Spiritual Formation and
Mission Engagement, First Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia. 'In Enabling
Fidelity to God, Jason Whitlark has produced a stunningly fresh reading
of Hebrews in its larger Greco-Roman context. Recent scholarship tends
to read the soteriology of Hebrews as reflecting, indeed embracing, the
Greco-Roman practice of benefaction and the assumptions of reciprocity
that undergird it. In the reading of Hebrews, humans respond in
gratitude to God's merciful and beneficent acts in an interdependent,
mutually reinforcing circle of salvation. Through a remarkable mastery
of primary and secondary sources, Whitlark shows rather that Hebrews, in
a direct challenge to the reciprocity system, argues that human fidelity
to God is utterly and absolutely predicated upon God's divine
enablement. Not everyone will agree will Whitlark's thesis, but students
of Hebrews and New Testament soteriology must certainly come to terms
with it.' -- Mikeal Parsons is Kidd L. and Buna Hitchcock Macon Chair in
Religion and Professor of New Testament, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
'This is a fresh and provocative new reading of Hebrews that moves the
homily from the periphery of New Testament soteriology into the early
Christian mainstream. This is an exercise in biblical theology not to be
missed.' -- Charles H. Talbert, Distinguished Professor of Religion in
New Testament Studies, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
