10 Short Reasons

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Here are 10 short reasons why Silas was qualified to write Hebrews to Jerusalem in AD 67. The book, Who Wrote Hebrews? The Case for Silas and His Message for Today has a much more complete defense of his authorship.

Click on this post to read the 10 reasons.

  1. Silas was a prophet (Acts 15:32) and Paul called him an apostle (1 Thes. 2:6) qualifying him to speak with authority for God.
  2. Silas was a leader in the church of Jerusalem (Acts. 15:22) and would have known the stories in Jerusalem about Jesus and could have written boldly to the members of the church of Jerusalem. The author of Hebrews wrote boldly.
  3. Silas was in Rome with Peter helping him write 1 Peter at the same time Hebrews was written from Rome. (1 Peter 5:12)
  4. Paul chose Silas to travel with him on his second Missionary journey (Acts 15:40) and heard him preach often as he traveled with him from Antioch to Syria, Cilicia (Acts 15:41), Derbe, Lystra (Acts 16:1), Iconium (16:2), Phrygia, Galatia (16:6), Macedonia, (16:9-11), Philippi, (16:12), Thessalonica (17:1), Berea (17:10) and Corinth (18:5) making him well known among the Gentile churches as well as trained in Paul’s theology.
  5. Silas wrote Scripture by helping Peter write 1 Peter (1 Peter 5:12) and had some responsibility in writing 1 and 2 Thessalonians as Paul listed him as a co-author and used the pronoun “we” repeatedly (1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:1).
  6. Silas’ presence with Paul in jail in Philippi shows he was bold, evangelistic and fearless (Acts 16:22-39). All of these were qualities of the author of Hebrews
  7. Silas was a Roman citizen, giving him advantages in travel and education.
  8. The Jerusalem Council chose Silas to travel to Antioch to defend the transition of the first covenant to the new covenant (Acts 15:22, 23) as Hebrews does.  (Heb. 8:7, 13; 9:1, 15, 18)
  9. There was a war going on in Israel in AD 66 and a letter was needed to encourage the church to persevere. If Paul wanted someone to write a letter to Jerusalem, Silas was the Jerusalem leader he knew well.
  10. Silas knew Timothy well (Acts 15:40-16:10) as did the author of Hebrews (Heb. 13:23)