That's it??? You assert that my disagreement with you means that I "haven't read the material very carefully"???
This is clearly
not my first time considering the material (that's me in the video, and my argument about Melchizedek comes at the end). I also didn't bring any bias to the table. "But you're an atheist!", you may say, and that is absolutely true, but my lack of belief in a god doesn't hinge on whether Melchizedek was Jesus, a real immortal King of Salem, a generic high priest, a metaphor, or whatever a person may choose to define him as. Thus, I don't *have to* come to a certain conclusion about Melchizedek to maintain my beliefs.
The
Old Testament makes it clear that Melchizedek was a historical figure. And everything said in Hebrews 7 about him pertains to a person. If verse 3 of Hebrews 7 isn't clear enough,
verse 16 also clarifies that he had an "endless" or "indestructible" life. Verses 15 and 17 ascribe that Jesus is "in the order of Melchizedek", meaning that he became a priest not through his ancestry (as the tribe of Levi that Melchizedek's order is being compared to) but because he'll never die, just like Melchizedek (verses 23 and 24). How is Jesus' life endless? He rose again, and went to heaven before dying again. This is what makes him a perfect priest "just like Melchizedek".
The downside to accepting any of the argument in Hebrews 7 is that it's based on the premise that Melchizedek was an immortal. One doesn't have to accept that being immortal makes you a god (see my YouTube argument cited above), but I can see why such acceptance would lead one to question his or her faith.