Who wrote Hebrews? and who goes to Hell?

Ask NT Wright Anything

Premier Unbelievable

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, History

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike Bird and Tom Wright take on three weighty listener questions that dive deep into the Bible’s mystery, mercy, and meaning in this episode of Ask NT Wright Anything, They begin by exploring the mystery of who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, unpacking why the early church left the author anonymous and how that shapes our reading today. Next, they move to a deeply sensitive and much-debated topic — who goes to hell — where Tom challenges popular misconceptions about eternal punishment and invites listeners to rediscover the biblical vision of judgment, mercy, and renewal. Finally, they take on the question of the canon, asking whether Christians should read only the 66 books of the Protestant Bible or include the wider writings Tom often references in his work.From authorship debates to eschatology and biblical interpretation, this episode blends deep theology with pastoral wisdom, offering clarity and compassion in equal measure. Support us: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donateGot a question for Tom? Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠askntwright.com⁠⁠⁠Start going deeper in the Bible with a free trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠logos.com/NT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠👉 Refer a friend to become a subscriber like you - they can get 10% off by clicking here (Embed URL: https://askntwright.supportingcast.fm?sc_promo=ASK10)SOCIAL LINKS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/unbelievablefeFacebook: / https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable Instagram: / https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable Tik Tok: / https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Ask Entryte Anything podcast, the program where we answer your questions about Jesus, the Bible and the life of faith.
0:13.7	I'm Mike Bird from Ridley College, and of course I'm joined by.
0:17.4	Tom Wright from Whitcliff Hall in Oxford.
0:24.8	Tom, it is great to be with you once again. We've got some good questions this week on the authorship of Hebrews, who goes to hell, the apocrypha. And I'd like the
0:31.6	one on Hebrews. I think we need more Hebrews on this podcast, because I've got your book here,
0:36.4	The Vision of Ephesians.
0:38.1	Right.
0:38.5	I love it. And I mean, your books have different levels. There's like the New Testament for
0:43.2	everyone's series of commentaries, which are very, very, very sort of light, great for the lay
0:48.6	reader, something you can read. Barg in basement stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So something you can read
0:53.4	before you go to bed at night. It's great. It's not a dense. Then you've got these ones, which are not dense commentaries, but they're kind of meaty enough that you get into. They're a little bit more in depth than the New Testament for everyone commentaries. And I'm thinking, I think we need one of these on Hebrews because it would be,
1:11.7	because Hebrews is one of the books that confuses people. Tom, can we expect a volume on the book
1:17.5	of Hebrews from you any time soon? I'm afraid you can't. I've got two or three writing projects
1:24.1	lined up. I am now much older than I was when I started in this game,
1:30.1	and I can see, if I'm not careful, promising projects stretching as far as the eye can see.
1:36.9	And I don't see that's going to happen very soon. I mean, with the Pauline letters and acts,
1:42.6	I've spent a lot of time in my now old life studying these things and reading commentaries on them.
1:51.6	It's a long time since I did any fresh work on the letter to the Hebrews.
1:55.2	I wrote the little commentary Hebrews for everyone, oh, 20 plus years ago.
2:00.5	And though I have preached on Hebrews, I have
2:03.4	obviously read it in the regular cycle of readings and have read the odd article here and there,
2:08.5	I haven't done any fresh work on Hebrews. I've had all sorts of other fish to fry.
	...

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