„Jezus Chrystus wczoraj i dziś, ten sam także na wieki” (Hbr 13, 8)

Abstract

The author is dealing with the profession of faith in Hbr 13, 8. In the first part he shows the way contemporary exegesis approaches the understanding of this text. This way can be reduced to an answer to the following question: what did the formulation from Hbr 13, 8 mean for the author at that time? The second part presents the standpoint held by the exegetes of the ancient Church. It turns out that the ancient church commentators lay down the problem differently. For they ask: what do the words (Hbr 13, 8) mean for a Christian in general? What do they mean especially for the Christian today, when he confronts the ideas of Arianism, Nestorianism, and others not so well defined erroneous views? Origen, for instance, perceives in the formulation a confirmation of the very popular in those days views held by the philosophy of history about particular epochs in the history of salvation. It is in Hbr 13, 8 that Athanasy saw the knowledge about the invariability of the Word in the mystery of the Incarnation. The Greek Fathers (St. Gregory Nazianzen) read out the formulation as a concise reminder of the unity of the divine and human attributes in Jesus Christ. Now the argument with Nestor brought to mind Hbr 13, 8 as the text about the unity of two natures: divine and human in one person of the Word (Cyril of Alexandria). In the third part the author attempts to notice what hints there are for contemporary exegesis from the manner in which it was pursued by the great teachers of the ancient Church.