Over the last few centuries the authorship of the book of Hebrews has been a contentious topic, but lately a strong scholarly consensus has emerged that Paul was not the author. There is no similar consensus about who did author the book; the consensus is entirely negative. Nonetheless, it takes some courage for a scholar to risk his reputation by challenging a so thoroughly assured conclusion of many scholars. Yet this is precisely what Dr. David Alan Black has done. In this book he adapts some of his previous scholarly work for a broader audience, demonstrating both how one goes about determining the authorship of an ancient work, and also how one challenges a scholarly consensus. And that is also why we have chosen this volume as the inaugural volume of our Participatory Study Series — Topic Line Drives. Millions of churchgoers look to the introductions to various books in their study Bibles to answer questions of date, authorship, and background. But only those who read more than one introduction will be fully aware of the disagreements among scholars about those conclusions. How is it that scholars make a determination about authorship? This book is for those who want to dig deeper than the notes in a study Bible and who want to understand what stands behind those conclusions. Dr. Black has paid his dues in the practice of scholarship, and here he demonstrates how one challenges such a consensus. At the same time he will guide the reader through the various factors that influence a decision about the authorship of a book. We hope this book will give new life to your Bible study and will challenge you to study further, not just about this subject, but about many others.
