Do We Need Extrabiblical Texts to Understand the Bible?

Interview with John Piper
Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

Audio Transcript

Today we have a very specific question, but one that I think draws attention to much larger questions we all face with Bible interpretation. The specific question on the table is this: Why does the author of Hebrews belabor Christ’s supremacy over angels? It comes in from a young man. “Pastor John, hello! Why do you think the writer of Hebrews spends so much time declaring that Jesus is greater than the angels? This is especially the case in the first two chapters. You would think that identifying Jesus as God and expounding upon the Trinity would be a better way of declaring the truth of Jesus’s greatness, so that the writer of Hebrews wouldn’t need to compare Jesus to angels. The emphasis on angels is for a reason; I just cannot figure out why.” Pastor John, what would you…