F. F. Bruce

Frederick Fyvie Bruce FBA (12 October 1910 – 11September 1990), usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was aBiblical scholar who supported the historical reliabilityof the New Testament. His first book, New TestamentDocuments: Are They Reliable? (1943), was voted bythe American evangelical periodical Christianity Todayin 2006 as one of the top 50 books “which had shapedevangelicals”.[1]

1 Early life

Bruce was born in Elgin, Moray, in Scotland, the sonof a Christian Brethren (Plymouth Brethren) preacherand educated at the University of Aberdeen, Gonvilleand Caius College, Cambridge and the University of Vi-enna, where he studied with Paul Kretschmer, an Indo-European philologist.[2]

2 Career

After teaching Greek for several years, first at theUniversity of Edinburgh and then at the University ofLeeds, he became head of the Department of BiblicalHistory and Literature at the University of Sheffield in1947. Aberdeen University bestowed an honorary Doctorof Divinity degree on him in 1957.[3] In 1959 he movedto the University of Manchester where he became Ry-lands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis. In hiscareer he wrote over 40 books and served as editor ofThe Evangelical Quarterly and the Palestine ExplorationQuarterly. He retired from teaching in 1978.Bruce was a distinguished scholar on the life and ministryof Paul the Apostle and wrote several studies, the bestknown of which is Paul: Apostle of the Free Spirit (pub-lished in the United States as Paul: Apostle of the HeartSet Free). He also wrote commentaries on many biblicalbooks including Habakkuk, the Gospel of John, the Actsof the Apostles, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians,Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, 1 & 2 Thessalonians,the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Epistles of John.Most of Bruce’s works were scholarly, but he also wrotemany popular works on the Bible. He viewed the NewTestament writings as historically reliable and the truthclaims of Christianity as hinging on their being so. ToBruce this did not mean that the Bible was always pre-cise, or that this lack of precision could not lead to some

confusion. He believed, however, that the passages thatwere still open to debate were ones that had no substan-tial bearing on Christian theology and thinking. Bruce’scolleague at Manchester, James Barr, considered Bruce a“conservative liberal.”[4]

3 Personal views

Bruce was in Christian fellowship at various places dur-ing his life, though his primary commitment was to theOpen Brethren among whom he grew up.[5] He enjoyedthe fellowship and acceptance of this group, though hewas very much a maverick in relation to his own personalbeliefs. He never accepted the dispensationalism[6] andpretribulationism usually associated with the Brethren,and he was also an advocate of the public ministry ofwomen[7] – something that many Plymouth Brethrenwould still disapprove of today.

4 Honours

Bruce was honoured with two scholarly works by his col-leagues and former students, one to mark his 60th and theother to mark his 70th birthday. Apostolic History and theGospel: Biblical and Historical Essays Presented to F. F.Bruce on his 60th Birthday (1970) included contributionsfrom E. M. Blaiklock, E. Earle Ellis, I. Howard Marshall,Bruce M. Metzger, William Barclay, G. E. Ladd, A. R.Millard, Leon Morris, Bo Reicke, and Donald Guthrie.Pauline Studies: Essays Presented to Professor F. F. Bruceon his 70th Birthday (1980) included contributions fromPeter T. O'Brien, David Wenham, Ronald E. Clements,and Moisés Silva. C. F. D. Moule and Robert H. Gundrycontributed to both volumes.Bruce was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, andserved as President of the Society for Old TestamentStudy, and also as President of the Society for New Tes-tament Study. He is one of a handful of scholars thusrecognised by his peers in both fields.

5 Selected writings

• New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1981. (First

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2 5 SELECTED WRITINGS

published in 1943 as Are the New Testament Docu-ments Reliable?) ISBN 0-8028-2219-3

• The Hittites and the Old Testament. Tyndale OldTestament Lecture, 1947. London: The TyndalePress, 1947. Pbk. pp.28.

• The Books and the Parchments. London: Picker-ing & Inglis, 1950 (2nd edn 1953; 3rd & revisededn 1963; paperback revised edition 1971 ISBN 0-7208-0216-4)

• The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text With In-troduction and Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI:William B. Eerdmans, 1951.

• The Book of the Acts (New International Commen-tary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI:William B. Eerdmans, 1954. ISBN 0-8028-2182-0

• The Epistles to the Colossians and the Ephesians.(New International Commentary on the New Tes-tament) Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans,1957. [title may be incorrect; Bruce wrote theColossians commentary, and E.K. Simpson wrotethe Ephesians commentary; see the 1984 replace-ment below entirely by Bruce]

• The Teacher of Righteousness in the Qumran Texts.London: The Tyndale Press, 1957. Pbk. pp.36.

• The Apostolic Defence of the Gospel. London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1959. ISBN 0-85110-306-5

• Biblical Exegesis in the Qumran Texts. London: TheTyndale Press, 1960. Pbk. pp.88.

• Paul and his Converts. Cambridge: LutterworthPress, 1962. ISBN 0-7188-0072-9

• Romans (Tyndale New Testament Commentary).Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1963.ISBN 0-8028-1405-0

• Israel and the Nations. Exeter: Paternoster Press,1963. ISBN 0-85364-150-1

• Epistle to the Hebrews (New International Commen-tary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI:William B. Eerdmans, 1964.

• This is That. Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1968. ISBN0-85364-168-4 (published in the USA asNewTesta-ment Development of Old Testament Themes. GrandRapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1968. ISBN 0-8028-1729-7)

• New Testament History. London: Oliphants, 1969.ISBN 0-551-00799-0

• The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text With In-troduction and Commentary, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids,MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1970.

• An Expanded Paraphrase of the Epistles Of Paul.R.N. Haynes Publishers; 1st USA edition (1981)323 pages. ISBN 0-88021-016-8 ISBN 978-0-88021-016-4

• Galatian Problems. John Rylands Library, 1971.

• Answers to Questions. Exeter: Paternoster Press,1972. 0-85364-101-3

• The 'Secret' Gospel of Mark. The Ethel M. Woodlecture delivered before the University of Londonon 11 February 1974. London: The Athlone Press,1974. Pbk. ISBN 0-485-14318-6. pp.20.

• Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testa-ment. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans,1974. ISBN 0-8028-1575-8

• Paul: Apostle of The Free Spirit. Exeter UK: Pa-ternoster, 1977. ISBN 1-84227-027-3 (publishedin the USA as Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free.Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans,1977.ISBN 0-8028-4778-1)

• History of the Bible in English. Oxford, UK: OxfordUniversity Press, 1978. ISBN 0-19-520088-8

• The Epistles of John. Grand Rapids, MI: William B.Eerdmans, 1979. ISBN 0-8028-1783-1

• Men andMovements in the Primitive Church. Exeter:Paternoster, 1979. ISBN 0-85364-705-4

• I & II Corinthians (New Century Bible Commentary).Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1980.ISBN 0-8028-1839-0

• The Spreading Flame. Grand Rapids, MI: WilliamB. Eerdmans, 1980. ISBN 0-8028-1805-6

• Bible History Atlas. N.Y.: Crossroad, 1982. ISBN0-8245-0418-6

• Epistle to the Galatians (New International GreekTestament Commentary). Grand Rapids, MI:William B. Eerdmans, 1982. ISBN 0-8028-2387-4

• 1 & 2 Thessalonians (Word Biblical Commentary).Thomas Nelson, 1982. ISBN 0-8499-0244-4

• Hard Sayings of Jesus. Inter-Varsity, 1983. ISBN0-87784-927-7

• Jesus and Paul: Places They Knew. Thomas Nelson,1983. ISBN 0-8407-5281-4

• Abraham and David: Places They Knew. ThomasNelson, 1984. ISBN 0-8407-5402-7

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• The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, andto the Ephesians. (New International Commen-tary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI:William B. Eerdmans, 1984. ISBN 0-8028-2510-9 [This is Bruce’s new commentary on Ephesiansand Philemon along with a revision of his 1957commentary from the Simpson and Bruce volumeabove]

• The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, MI: William B.Eerdmans, 1984. ISBN 0-8028-0883-2

• Jesus: Lord & Savior. Inter-Varsity, 1986.

• The Message of the New Testament. Grand Rapids,MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1986. ISBN 0-8028-1525-1

• Romans (Tyndale New Testament Commentary), re-vised. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans,1986. ISBN 0-8028-0062-9

• Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. AtticPress, 1986. ISBN 0-85364-017-3 ( download on-line copy here)

• The Canon of Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988. ISBN 0-8308-1258-X

• The Book of the Acts, revised (New InternationalCommentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids,MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1988. ISBN 0-8028-2505-2

• Philippians, (New International Biblical Commen-tary), 1989. Hendricksen. ISBN 0-943575-15-X

• Epistle to the Hebrews, revised. (New InternationalCommentary on the New Testament) Grand Rapids,MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1990. ISBN 0-8028-2514-1

• The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text With In-troduction and Commentary, 3rd ed. Grand Rapids,MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1990. ISBN 0-8028-0966-9

• A Mind For What Matters: Collected Essays. GrandRapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1990. ISBN 0-8028-0446-2

• Kaiser, Walter C., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, andManfred Brauch. Hard Sayings of the Bible. Down-ers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996. ISBN 0-87784-927-7

5.1 Articles

• “The Chester Beatty Papyri,” The Harvester 11(1934): 163, 164.

• “What Do We Mean By Biblical Inspiration?"Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute78 (1946): 121–139.

• “The Speeches In Acts: Thirty Years After,” RobertBanks, ed., Reconciliation andHope. NewTestamentEssays on Atonement and Eschatology Presented to L.L. Morris on his 60th Birthday. Carlisle: The Pater-noster Press, 1974. pp.53–68.

• “The Background to the Son ofMan Sayings,”ChristThe Lord. Studies in Christology presented to DonaldGuthrie. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1982. Hbk.ISBN 0-85111-744-9. pp.50–70.

• “The Curse of the Law,”M. D. Hooker & S. G.Wil-son, eds., Paul and Paulinism. Essays in Honour ofC. K. Barrett. London: SPCK. Hbk. ISBN 0-281-03835-X. pp.27–36.

• “Colossian Problems: Part 1: Jews and Christiansin the Lycus Valley,” Bibliotheca Sacra 141: 561(1984): 3–13.

• “Colossian Problems: Part 2: The 'Christ Hymn'of Colossians 1:15–20,” Bibliotheca Sacra 141: 562(1984): 99–112.

• “Colossian Problems: Part 3: The ColossianHeresy,” Bibliotheca Sacra 141: 563 (1984): 195–206.

• “Colossian Problems: Part 4: Christ as Conquerorand Reconciler,”Bibliotheca Sacra 141: 564 (1984):291–301.

• “Luke’s Presentation of the Spirit in Acts,” CriswellTheological Review 5.1 (1990) 15–29.

• annual Rylands lectures at the John Rylands Li-brary, Manchester (published in Bulletin of the JohnRylands Library, vols. 43–60; including “Galatianproblems”, 5 pts, and “St Paul in Rome”, 5 pts.)

6 References[1] Tim Grass, F. F. Bruce: A Life, p. 40 (Paternoster, 2012).

ISBN 978-0-8028-6723-0

[2] Hippenhammer, Craighton T., “F.F. Bruce: A Life, byTim Grass” (2013). Faculty Scholarship – Library Sci-ence. Paper 15. http://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/lsci_facp/15.

[3] W.W. Gasque, “Bruce, F(rederick) F(yvie)", HistoricalHandbook of Major Bible Interpreters, ed. Donald K.McKim, InterVarsity Press, 1998, p. 444.

[4] Iain Murray, Evangelicalism Divided, Edinburgh: Bannerof Truth (2000), pp. 181; John Wenham, Facing Hell:An Autobiography, Carlisle: Paternoster Press (1999), pp.195.

4 8 EXTERNAL LINKS

[5] Arnold Pickering, “F.F. Bruce as a Fellow-Elder”, Chris-tian Brethren Research Fellowship Journal 22 (Nov.1971), p. 15f.

[6] F.F. Bruce, “The End of the First Gospel”, The Evangeli-cal Quarterly 12 (1940), pp. 203–214.

[7] see http://answers.net.nz/Other/bre.3.htm for a criticismof Bruce for supporting Women’s Ministry based on a re-view of one of his articles

7 Further reading• W. Ward Gasque & Ralph P. Martin (eds). Apos-

tolic History and the Gospel: Biblical and HistoricalEssays Presented to F. F. Bruce on his 60th Birthday.Exeter: Paternoster; Grand Rapids, MI: William B.Eerdmans, 1970. ISBN 0-85364-098-X

• D. A. Hagner & M. J. Harris (eds). Pauline Studies:Essays Presented to F. F. Bruce. Exeter: Paternos-ter; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1980.ISBN 0-8028-3531-7

• F. F. Bruce. In Retrospect: Remembrance of ThingsPast. Revised edition. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993.ISBN 0-8010-1055-1

• Tim Grass. F. F. Bruce. A Life. Milton Keynes:Paternoster, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84227-737-9

8 External links• FF Bruce as a Fellow-Elder by Arnold Pickering

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9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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