Early Christian Beliefs About Hebrews
Early Christian writers used Hebrews as a real Christian letter and quoted it for teaching about salvation, faith, and Christ's priesthood. Origen and Gregory Thaumaturgus are among the clearest witnesses here, and Clement of Alexandria also links Hebrews to Paul. But the set is mixed on authorship, with some writers treating it as Pauline, others noting anonymous or uncertain origins.
117 early-church witnesses · 202 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Epistle to the Hebrews?
Early Christian writers clearly knew the Epistle to the Hebrews and often quoted it, but this card set does not give a clean, broad witness for one single belief about the book. Origen uses Hebrews often and even says some copies differ in wording, while Gregory Thaumaturgus and others quote it as Scripture for teaching about salvation and the heavenly sanctuary. There is also an important author question:
Clement of Alexandria and Origen connect Hebrews with Paul, but other later writers in the set leave the authorship unclear or anonymous. Because the strongest cards are a mix of direct quotation, author-tradition notes, and weakly related Hebrew/Jewish background material, the page needs review before a fully curated claim can be made. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians quoted Hebrews as Scripture for teaching about Christ, salvation, and faith.
- Some writers, like Clement of Alexandria and Origen, connected Hebrews with Paul or Pauline tradition.
- Other cards are about Jewish history, Bible background, or unclear references and do not directly answer the topic.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians treat Hebrews as Scripture?
Several early Christian writers quote Hebrews as an authoritative text and explicitly refer to it as an epistle. The sources show it being used in doctrinal argument, not just mentioned by name.
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Clement of Alexandria, Fragments Direct teaching
As Luke also may be recognised by the style, both to have composed the Acts of the Apostles, and to have translated Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews.
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Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom Supporting witness
and guaranteed by the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is found in none of their public books.
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Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness
In some copies of the Epistle to the Hebrews the words are by the grace of God.
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
...their forms of expression, and the whole arrangement and execution of the book, I conclude that the authorship is not his. For the evangelist nowhere else adds his name, and he never identifies himself either in the Gospel or in the epistle.”
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
...it is very reasonable to conclude that this book is different from that one. For the Gospel and the Epistle agree with each other, and both begin in the same way. One begins, “In the beginning was the Word,” while the other begins, “That which was from the beginning.” One says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,” John 1:14. The other says the same things, with a slight change: “That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; and the life was manifested.” For these things are introduced as a preface, and in opposition, as he shows later, to those who deny that the Lord has come in the flesh. For this reason he has also carefully added these words: “And that which we have seen we testify, and show to you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us; that which we have seen and heard declare we to you.” So he stays with his subject, and does not wander away from it inconsistently, but goes through all of it under the same main points and with the same kinds of expressions, some of wh
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
The evangelist, on the other hand, has not prefixed his name even to the catholic epistle;
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
But from the character of both, and the forms of expression, and the whole disposition and execution of the book, I draw the conclusion that the authorship is not his.
More related quotations from this section 1 shown
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Tertullian, On Modesty Direct teaching
For there is extant withal an Epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas — a man sufficiently accredited by God, as being one whom Paul has stationed next to himself in the uninterrupted observance of abstinence: Or else, I alone and Barnabas, have not we the power of working?
Who did early Christians think wrote Hebrews?
The supplied sources do not give one unanimous answer about authorship. Clement of Alexandria links Hebrews to Paul through Luke, Tertullian associates it with Barnabas, and other writers note anonymous or disputed authorship.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
...inity? And no one with reverent understanding could imagine that He is a creature. Moreover, in the Epistle to the Hebrews he writes again: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also bore them witness with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and with gifts of the Holy Spirit" Hebrews 2:3-4. And again he says in the same epistle: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest'" Hebrews 3:7-11. And there too they ought to listen to Paul, because he in no way separates the Holy Spirit from the divinity of the Father and the Son. Instead, he clearly presents the speech of the Holy Spirit as coming from the person of the Father, and thus as spoken by God, just as it has been shown in the statements menti
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
Moreover, in the Epistle to the Hebrews he writes again thus: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching
Moreover, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, discoursing of those who belong to the circumcision, he writes: who serve for an ensample and shadow of heavenly things.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...ch of God. For the people were formerly called the people of God, Exodus 19:5-6, and a holy nation, Hebrews 12:23. You, therefore, are the holy and sacred Church of God, enrolled in heaven, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, a bride adorned for the Lord God, a great Church, a faithful Church. Listen carefully now to what was said before: oblations and tithes belong to Christ our High Priest, and to those who minister to Him. Tenths of salvation are the first letter of the name of Jesus. Hear, O Holy Catholic Church, you who have escaped the ten plagues, and have received the ten commandments, and have learned the law, and have kept the faith, and have believed in Jesus, and have known the decad, and have believed in the iota, which is the first letter of the name of Jesus, and are named after His name, and are established, and shine in the completion of His glory. Those things that were sacrifices then are now prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. Those things that were first-fruits, tithes, offerings, and gifts then are now oblations, which are presented by holy bishops to the Lord God through Jesus Christ, who has died for them. For these are your high
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Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Supporting witness
...dge and earnest of a perpetual priesthood, gave no small symbol of your supernatural child-bearing, Hebrews 9:4. What more? Has not the mighty Moses plainly declared that on account of these types of you, hard to be understood, Exodus 25:8, he stayed longer on the mountain, so that he might learn, O holy one, the mysteries connected with you? For when he was commanded to build the ark as a sign and likeness of this thing, he was not negligent in obeying the command, although a tragic event happened on his descent from the mountain. But having made it five and a half cubits in size, he appointed it to be the receptacle of the law, and covered it with the wings of the cherubim, most clearly pointing beforehand to you, the mother of God, who conceived Him without corruption, and in an ineffable way brought forth Him who is Himself, as it were, the very consistence of incorruption, and that within the limits of the five and a half circles of the world. This was on your account, and on account of the undefiled Incarnation of God, the Word, which by you had place for the sake of that flesh which immutably and indivisibly remains with Him forever, Hebrews 9:4. The golden pot also, as a
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness
... the Holy Trinity is to be worshiped without either separation or alienation. He says in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:13 Again, in that letter he gives this explanation: "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God, who has also sealed us, and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts." 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And even more clearly, he writes this in the same letter: "When Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it turns to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:15-18
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Typology
...osts with the blood of a lamb. For when God was about to strike the Egyptians, He had commanded the Hebrews, so that they might be protected from that blow, to kill a white lamb without spot and place on their doorposts a mark made from its blood. And so, when the firstborn of the Egyptians died in one night, the Hebrews alone were saved by the sign of the blood. This was not because the blood of a sheep had such power in itself that it could save men, but because it was an image of things to come. For Christ was the white lamb without spot; that is, He was innocent, just, and holy. He was killed by those same Jews, and He is the salvation of all who have written on their foreheads the sign of blood, that is, the sign of the cross on which He shed His blood. For the forehead is the top of the doorway in man, and the wood sprinkled with blood is a symbol of the cross. Finally, the killing of the lamb by the very people who do it is called the Passover feast, from the word paschein, because it is a figure of the passion, which God, knowing the future beforehand, gave through Moses to be celebrated by His people. But at that time the figure was effective in the present for turning
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
...men, just as hunting is for those who are warlike by nature. From there God brought him to lead the Hebrews. Then the Egyptians, though often warned, remained unwise. And the Hebrews were spectators of the calamities that others suffered, learning in safety the power of God. And when the Egyptians paid no attention to the effects of that power, because in their foolish infatuation they did not believe, then, as it is said, the children knew what was done. And afterward the Hebrews went out and departed carrying much spoil from the Egyptians, not from avarice, as the cavillers say. For God did not persuade them to covet what belonged to others. But, first, they took wages for the services they had rendered to the Egyptians all that time. Then, in a way, they repaid the Egyptians by afflicting them in return, as avaricious people, through the taking of the booty, just as they had afflicted the Hebrews by enslaving them. Whether, then, as may be claimed to be done in war, they thought it proper, in exercising the rights of conquerors, to take away the property of their enemies, as those who have gained the day do from those who are defeated—and there was just cause for hostilities.
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Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Background
...And beside me there is no other God.” Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, when God sent Moses to the Hebrews, He did not mention any name but mystically used a participle to teach them that He is the one and only God. “For,” He says, “I am the Being,” clearly contrasting Himself, “the Being,” with those who are not, so that those who had been deceived could see they were attaching themselves, not to real beings, but to those who had no being. Since God knew that the first humans remembered the old delusion of their forefathers—by which the deceptive demon tricked them, saying, “If you obey me by transgressing God's command, you shall be as gods,” calling those beings gods which had no existence—this deception led them to believe there were other gods, and thus they might become gods themselves. On this account, He told Moses, “I am the Being,” using the participle “being” to show the difference between God, who is, and those who are not. People, deceived by the demon, dared to disobey God and were expelled from Paradise, remembering the name of gods but no longer being taught by God that there are no other gods. It was not just for those who failed to keep the first, simple comma
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
..."For they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." And in another Epistle, when outlining the various matters relating to the tabernacle, he used these words: "You shall make everything according to the pattern showed you in the mount." Moreover, in the Epistle to the Galatians, as if rebuking those who think they read the law, and yet do not understand it, judging that those do not understand it who do not reflect that allegories are contained under what is written, he says: "Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written, Abraham had two sons; the one by the bond-maid, the other by the free woman. But he who was by the bond-maid was born according to the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants," and so on. Now we must carefully observe each word used by him. He says, "You who desire to be under the law," not, "You that are under the law"; and, "Do you not hear the law?" Hearing is understood to mean comprehending and knowing. And in the Epistle to the Colossians, briefly summarizing the meaning of the whole law, he says: "Let no man
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness
...so be revealed in our mortal flesh." He mentions that the Spirit engages with the flesh in the same Epistle, "You are the letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." If, then, fleshly hearts can partake of the Spirit now, it is not surprising that they will receive life from the Spirit in the resurrection. The apostle talks about this resurrection in the Epistle to the Philippians: "Being conformed to His death, if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." In what other mortal flesh can life be shown if not in the same flesh that is put to death because of the confession of God? As he himself says, "If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human reasons, what benefit is it to me if the dead are not raised? If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are also false witnesses about God, because we've testified that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if the dead are not raised. If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. But if Christ has
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Hermas, Connection to Hebrews 1:3 Background
and He Himself purged away their sins, having suffered many trials and undergone many labours, for no one is able to dig without labour and toil. He Himself, then, having purged away the sins of the people, showed them the paths of life
More related quotations from this section 7 shown
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
Writing to the Hebrews also, and treating of those who belong to the circumcision, he says: Those who serve to the example and shadow of heavenly things.
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
And when writing to the Hebrews, he says of Him that He is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person.
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Hermas, Connection to Hebrews 11:13 Background
you who are the servants of God dwell in a strange land; for your city is far away from this one.
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Hermas, Connection to Hebrews 1:3 Background
" "Listen," he said: "the name of the Son of God is great, and cannot be contained, and supports the whole world.
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Anonymous, Connection to Hebrews 10:33 Background
For there were some of them against whom death by the sword was ordered; and there were some of them from whom they took away whatsoever they possessed, and let them go.
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Anonymous, Connection to Hebrews 12:1 Background
Wherefore, having so many great and glorious examples set before us, let us turn again to the practice of that peace which from the beginning was the mark set before us;
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Lactantius, Connection to Hebrews 7:3 Background
For which reason it was befitting that the Son also should be twice born, that He also might become "fatherless" and "motherless." For in His first nativity, which was spiritual, He was "motherless," because He was begotten by God the Father alone, without the office of a mother. But in His second, which was in the flesh, He was born of a virgin's womb without the office of a father, that, bearing a middle substance between God and man, He might be able, as it were, to take by the hand this frail and weak nature of ours, and raise it to immortality.
Common Questions
Did early Christians treat Hebrews as an important Christian book?
Yes. Writers like Origen and Gregory Thaumaturgus quoted Hebrews for doctrine and Christian teaching.
Did early Christians agree on who wrote Hebrews?
No. Some connected it with Paul, while other ancient witnesses leave the authorship uncertain or anonymous.
Did early Christians use Hebrews in teaching about Christ?
Yes. They quoted it to speak about Christ's work, faith, and his priesthood.
Source Index for the Epistle to the Hebrews
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 202 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 117
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 85
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.