Although it is of Pauline origin, the Letter to the Hebrews was not, however, written by Saint Paul

Good Evening,
I’m really happy to write to you. This time (…) I got a quick question, to which I hope you will dedicate no more than a little bit of your time.
On the 24 of June 1914 the Pontifical Biblical Commission published a document about the Letter to the Hebrews.
The main doubts raised to the commission concerned the inspiration of the letter and its attribution to Paul.
I know that the answers from the Vatican departments are part of the pontifex’s teachings.
Yet, should we really consider that the letter to the Hebrews has been written by Paul of Tarsus, as stated by the Department?
It is not possible to doubt this if we abide by the department’s teachings.
In the same way, should the other documents from the department regarding the Gospels be regarded as the Church’s teaching?
It seems to me that these were also written at a time when there was still no certainty regarding the validity of exegesis, and people were much more cautious and suspicious, especially toward certain modernist strands of exegesis.
According to them, we are supposed to accept almost all the attributions of the texts to the authors whose names they bear. Even the Psalms of David, according to the response dated May 1, 1910, should be attributed to David (not all of them, but for example Psalms 2, 15, 17, etc.).
Thank you for your answer,
I pray for you as usual.
Paolo.

Priest’s answer

Dear Paolo,
1.  You ask me whether we should consider the Letter to the Hebrews to have been written by Paul of Tarsus, as the Pontifical Biblical Commission states.Well, the Pontifical Biblical Commission says that it is certainly of Pauline origin, but it does not say whether it was written by Saint Paul.

2. Even in the past, a distinction was made between the canonicity of the Letter to the Hebrews and its authenticity, meaning who is the real author of it.
There is no doubt regarding its canonicity, meaning that it is part of the Inspired Books. However, the Western Church soon ceased to attribute it to Saint Paul, while the Eastern Church accepted its authenticity, although some authors, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, had expressed reservations.

3. Here is the actual answer from the Pontifical Biblical Commission:
To the question:“For the Apostle Paul to be regarded as the author of this letter, must we not affirm that he not only conceived and expressed it in its entirety under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but also that he gave it the form in which we now possess it?
Answer: “No, subject to further decision by the Church.”
Therefore, it recognizes its Pauline origins, and yet it doesn’t state that we should consider Saint Paul to have drafted it.
However, to leave the matter open, he adds: subject to further judgment by the Church.

4. More specifically, the TOB Bible (Ecumenical Translation of the Bible) states: “Catholic teaching, rooted primarily in the testimony of tradition, was concerned with defending the Pauline origin of the letter. It should be noted, however, that the Council of Trent refused to take an explicit position on the question of authenticity; this allowed individual Catholic commentators (such as Estius) to argue that the author was a disciple of Paul who had written an original work.
Amid the controversy-ridden atmosphere of the early 20th century, the Roman Biblical Commission prohibited Catholics from denying the Pauline origin of the letter, while acknowledging that it could be considered a non-Pauline composition.
Recent Catholic commentators interpret this Pauline origin in a broad sense; one of the most erudite among them believes that the letter was composed by Apollos after the martyrdom of Saint Paul. (C. Spicq, L’Épitre aut Hébreux, t. I, pp. 260-161).

5. C. Spicq was one of the most distinguished biblical scholars of the 20th century. Born in Lorraine in 1901, he was given the name Bernardo at baptism. Upon joining the Dominican Order, he took the name Ceslao. He died in 1992 at the age of 91.

6. Regarding the drafting date of the letter, according to some it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, since it makes no references to it. This means before 70 A.D.
According to others, it was drafted at a later date. However, without going too far into it, Clement of Rome refers to the Letter to the Hebrews around 95 AD. This means that it was written earlier.
And since the author refers to the temple liturgy as something that is still relevant today (cf. Heb 10:1–3), we are led to believe that it was written in the years leading up to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, that is, before the year 70.I thank you for your promised prayer. I gladly return it.
I wish you well and bless you.
Father Angelo.

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