Perspectives for Reading the Epistle to the Hebrews as a Constructive Contribution to Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Abstract:The Epistle to the Hebrews, with its strong antithesis between the old and new covenants, has often been accused of supporting anti-Jewish polemics or even of displaying them itself. Hebrews is thus considered an obstacle to Jewish-Christian dialogue. This contribution aims to further the dialogue. It offers hermeneutical and exegetical perspectives to formulate a positive eschatological view of "Israel" from the overall theological witness of Hebrews in analogy to Romans 9–11, without abandoning the Christ-centred soteriology of the letter. These perspectives promote the idea of the one "believing people of God" in combination with the eschatological idea in Hebrews 11:39–40, that all believers will together enter their eschatological completion.