Bible Authenticity

Who wrote Hebrews? In thirteen New Testament letters, or epistles, Paul introduces himself as the writer. However, the writer of Hebrews is anonymous. Hebrews was accepted as an epistle of Paul by early writers, and throughout most of Christian history, the apostle Paul was viewed as the writer of Hebrews. However, in the last couple of hundred years, this view has been dismissed by many of the “experts.” What are the facts? Who wrote Hebrews?

Regardless of who who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, the important thing to remember is that this writing, like the Old Testament before it, is what “the holy Spirit says” (Hebrews 3:7 NAB). The fact that the writer does not identify himself by name in the letter does not prove that Paul isn’t the writer. Many Old Testament Bible books don’t name the writer, and neither do the Gospels and Acts in the New Testament.

Differing Views of Writership

Most “scholars” and “experts” these days, especially since the 1800’s, do not think that the Christian apostle Paul wrote Hebrews. This view stands in contrast to the early Christians, who almost unanimously held the view that Paul wrote Hebrews, even though the writer isn’t named in the book itself.

“As early as the end of the second century the church of Alexandria in Egypt accepted Hebrews as a letter of Paul, and that became the commonly held view in the East. Pauline authorship was contested in the West in the fourth century, but then accepted. In the sixteenth century, doubts about that position were again raised, and the modern consensus is that the letter was not written by Paul. There is, however, no widespread agreement on any of the other suggested authors, e. g., Barnabus, Apollos, or Priscilla and Aquila. The document itself has no statement about its author”—Introduction to The Letter To The Hebrews, New American Bible (NAB) read more