Pseudepigrapha Psalad Psurgery V(b): Hebrews Sans Context II

Chapter 7, Verse 10: "...when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor." Wrong. Levi did not exist. The atoms that ultimately became his body existed, but in no sense did Levi exist, and if any of the atoms that became Levi were in Abraham's body, they comprised an infinitesimally small fraction of what would become Levi. It is first-century ignorance of biology that believes that people exist inside their ancestors' bodies. If you want to claim that Levi's spirit existed before his body existed, then you have to accept that Levi's spirit was in Abraham's body, which sounds to me more like an occult notion than Jesusianism.

Chapter 8, Verse 7: "...if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another." So there was clearly something wrong with the covenant. So Yahweh made a mistake, right? Or changed its mind?

Chapter 9

• Verse 3: "Behind the second curtain was...the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant." There are a couple of problems with this verse. To see the problems, we have to go back to Exodus 25:11 and 30:3. The former, recounting instructions to Moses on the construction of the ark of the covenant, says, "Overlay it with pure gold". The latter, concerning the altar of incense, says, "Overlay [it] with pure gold". So why does the author of Hebrews refer to the altar as "golden" and the ark as "gold-covered"? Nit-picking, you say? Not when this god condemns me just for thinking about sex. But the big problem with Hebrews 9:3 is the claim that the altar was in the Most Holy Place. Go back to Exodus 26:33, "...place the ark...behind the curtain..." then see Exodus 30:6, "Put the altar in front of the curtain..." The bible contains no contradictions? Come on, you guys.
• Verse 27: "...man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." Can you say "Lazarus" (John 11:43-44)? "Young man" (Luke 7:14-15)? "My child" (Luke 8:54-55)? "Holy people" (Matthew 27:52)?

Chapter 10

• Verse 5: "...when Christ came into the world, he said, 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire...'" Hmm, I'm pretty sure that these were not Christ's first words, and I'm pretty sure that he didn't say anything for at least the better part of a year, if not longer. Also, if Yahweh did not desire sacrifice and offerings, then why did it spend so much time describing the required sacrifices and offerings in detail? And why did it sacrifice its son?
• Verses 25 & 37: "...let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." "...in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come...'" This author agrees with Paul and Jesus in their obvious conviction that "the Day" was coming soon.
• Verse 34: "You...joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." I'm really starting to get the feeling that most people, at least in the West, who claim to be Jesusianismists simply don't believe the bible to be true. Funny, when I recall that a lot of Jesusianismists like to assert that atheists aren't really atheists.

Chapter 11, Verse 12: From Abraham "came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore." Literalists, have you read this? There seem to be at least 100 billion stars, possibly several times that number, in the Milky Way alone.

Chapter 12, Verse 6: "...the Lord...punishes [its children]." Then it's not a very good father. Punishment is not only an ancient, misguided, and ineffective teaching method, it's just plain wrong.

Chapter 13, Verse 2: "...entertain strangers..." Who does this? "...some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Who believes this?