ABSTRACT
In the summary of the seventeenth-century poet-priest, George Herbert, ordained priesthood carries both 'dignity' and 'duty': 'The Dignity, in that a Priest may do that which Christ did, and by his auctority, and as his Viceregent'. In Christian conviction, the character of God is none other than the person of Jesus. It is in looking to Jesus that we see most clearly into the being and 'behaviour' of God. Such, certainly, is the vision which has captivated the anonymous author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The author of Hebrews was clearly well educated, both in terms of matters Jewish and of Greek rhetoric. The author of Hebrews has a passion for his subject, and that subject is Jesus, perceived as the very self-expression of God. In the language of Hebrews, that means constantly drawing near to the throne of grace, where all is laid bare, and on both sides.
