Has Our ‘Reading Backwards’ Approach to Hebrews Been Framed?

In recent discussions on Hebrews and Hermeneutics, one of the sticking points concerns how reading the author’s appropriation of the Old Testament in relation to various contexts skews a more theological, specifically Christological, ‘backward’ reading. The current paper explores recent attempts at explicating the hermeneutics of Hebrews, particularly interfacing with both Graham Hughes’ older proposals on interpretive frames and the recent discussion of interpretive frames in Kevin Vanhoozer’s MERE CHRISTIAN HERMENEUTICS. It raises the possibility that understanding the author of Hebrews as ‘reading backwards’ through a Christological lens, oversimplifies the author’s view of scripture and the appropriation of scripture in the homily.