In the case of the group addressed by Hebrews, the former danger is the greater one.39 The author’s agenda and strategy is similarly sociological (or, at least, readily amenable to sociological analysis). His goal is to motivate the hearers to persevere in their commitment to one another, to the sacred ratio at the core of the sect’s formation, and to the ethos (the values and practices) that the sect’s ratio nurtures. In other words, he wants to see the community maintain the identity, practices,