Legitimation in the Letter to the Hebrews

Book excerpt: This book adopts an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of the theology, symbolism and argument of Hebrews. Employing sociological models, the book examines Hebrews in the context of the early Christians' construction and maintenance of a social world. In that respect, the book elaborates the thesis that Hebrews was designed to serve a legitimating function in the realm of social interaction, that its theology, symbolism and argument were designed to construct and maintain the symbolic universe of the community of the readers. It is argued that we cannot properly understand the theology, symbolism and argument of Hebrews apart from its first-century context.