The Epistle to the Hebrews, the First Apology for Christianity; An Exegetical Study

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1899 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XII THE ORDER OF MELCIIISEDEC Chap. vii. 1-10 Having unburdened his heart by these words of complaint and charitable hope, our author proceeds to determine the nature of the Melchisedec order of priesthood, and to demonstrate its superior and supreme value. Before considering his method of fixing the type, and showing its ideal worth, it may be helpful to offer here some introductory observations on the writer's aim in introducing into his treatise this remarkable speculation, if I may so designate it, or the function which the latter performs in his argument. The section concerning the Melchisedec type of priesthood serves, I think, a double purpose. First, and in some respects foremost in importance, there is the apologetic purpose. The writer eagerly lays hold of the Melchisedec priesthood, as a means of showing that Christ might be a priest, though not possessing the legal qualifications for the Levitical priesthood. Here is a priesthood, represented in the oracle of Psalm ex. as of a different order, to which Jesus, as the Messiah, may lay claim. This new type of priesthood, other than Levitical, further serves well the apologetic aim by its priority in point of time. The new type is older than the Levitical, supposed alone to possess legitimacy; nay, is the oldest type known to sacred history. In comparison with this ancient order, the Levitical priesthood is an upstart. But what if this order were only a rude, imperfect, irregular sort of priesthood, good enough for those old-world times, and graciously accepted by God in absence of a better, but destined to pass away when a regularly established priesthood came in, not worthy to continue side by side therewith, and not fit to be referred to as establishing a new sort of...