The opening verses of Hebrews, called the “exordium,” offers both a theologically complete and rhetorically complex statement of Christian faith. It is a statement that upholds and validates the experiences of previous generations and yet testifies that the present and the future manifestations of the divine are the fulfillment of God’s plans. The Hebrews author declares a continuity of purpose and person, throughout the ages, from creation to salvation. That purpose is the right, repaired relationship between God and the world. The person who fulfills that purpose is the Son.

Our English translation(s) lose the lovely alliteration used by the Hebrews author to describe God’s ongoing revelations to the world, a relationship that has existed “polymeros kai polytopos” “at various times . . …