4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,What kind a person is the author describing?This question must be answered before we can proceed further. :-o
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Chirst, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement. And this will we do, if God permit. - Hebrews 6:1-3leaving= having leftprinciples= word of the beginninggo on= be borne along; the Instructor being the Holy Spiritlaying again the foundation= Verb (kataballo) occurs in 2 Cor. 4:9; Heb 6:1; and Rev. 12:10. A comparison of all these passages (especially 2 Cor. 4:9 and Rev. 12:10) will show that kataballo and katabole are not the proper trems for founding and foundation, but the correct meaning is casting down or overthrow. Consistency, threefore, calls for the same translation in Heb 6:1, where, instead of "not laying again", the rendering should be "not casting down". That is to say, the foundation already laid, of repentance, etc, was not to be cast down or overthrown, but was to be left - and progress made unto the perfection.What kind a person is the author describing? This question must be answered before we can proceed further.I think the answer to your question is in the above 3 verses I have posted before v4. It seems that an understanding of the verses in hebrews after chapter 6 demand that you fully understand the 'principles of doctrine' of the 'foundation'. Especially because in v6 the writer mentions 'repentance' and in v1 it is clearly stated as a 'foundation' doctrine. It seems clear to me that the person spoken about is a Christian who has 'once enlightened' , 'tasted of the heavenly gift', and 'made partakers of the Holy Ghost'.
OK, I'll bite and offer my humble opinion. I know this passage of Scripture has stirred up plenty of debate among Christians and I also know the enemy has used it mercilessly against backslidden folks to dupe them into thinking they have committed the unpardonable sin. But praise God, His mercy endures forever and those who come to him will certainly not be cast out! On to your question...quote:"What kind a person is the author describing?"I've heard some good arguments about this kind of person being a Jew who comes short of full faith in Jesus and returns to Judaism but I'm not fully convinced of that argument. It seems that "becoming partakers of the Holy Spirit" and "tasting the good word of God and the powers of the age to come" means something more than just falling short of faith in Jesus.I believe this kind of person is described in the parable of the sower(Matt 13)as the "stony ground hearer". They accept they word with joy and sprout up quickly, excited about the Lord, but when trials come they wither away. Verses 6-7 further this idea of the parable of the seed. I believe this kind of person has hardened his/her heart to the point where there is no place for repentance anymore.In Christ,Ron
Hebrews 6:1-31 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3And this we will do if God permits.Ok wrtbooks, we do need to discuss these verses first, I will list the points that need clarification:1. The elementary principles of Christ2. Perfection3. Repentance from dead works4. Faith towards God5. The doctrine of baptisms (washings)6. Resurrection of the dead7. Eternal judgment
Just thought I'd contribute this to the conversation. I wrote a paper on Hebrews at school this past semester, and towards the end of the paper touch on the issue of Hebrews 6. Check it out...http://www.christiansteps.com/doctrine/paper-bib306.htmlThe title of the paper is "Considering Jesus in the Epistle to the Hebrews." I wrote it for my Hebrews & General epistles class.All comments welcomed, and I hope it contributes to the discussion.
wrtbooksI see you have been dipping into your Companion Bible again. If there is a variant view Bullenger will find it. I can find no translation which translates 'kataballO' in Heb 6 as 'throwing down'in the sense of 'destroy'. Robertsons NT Word Pictures says that 'themelion kataballomenoi' is "The regular idiom for laying down the foundation of a building". Its not only 'kataballO' that we have to handle but the word 'palin - again'. However we translate kataballO we have to add the word 'again'. "throwing down foundations again" i.e. "re-destroying them" would not make sense as the foundations had not been thrown down/destroyed the first time. However, 'laying foundations again' i.e. "re-laying them" would make sense in as much as the writer says he won't do it. 'palin' is sometimes used as a prefix as in palingenesis or re-generation. The writer is saying he will not repeat an action. The action he will not repeat is the laying down of the foundation. I think in this case the universal consensus of the translations has it right and Bullenger is mistaken.
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