Frederick Fyvie Bruce (1910-1990) was a Bible scholar,
and one of the founders of the modern evangelical understanding of the
Bible. His work New
Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? is considered a classic
in the discipline of Christian apologetics.
He was born in Elgin, Morayshire and was
educated at the University of Aberdeen, Cambridge University and the
University of Vienna. After teaching Greek for several years first at
the University of Edinburgh and then at the University of Leeds he
became head of the Department of Biblical History and Literature at the
University of Sheffield in 1947. In 1959 he moved to the University of
Manchester where he became professor of Biblical Criticism and
Exegesis. In his career he wrote some thirty-three books and served as
editor of The Evangelical Quarterly
and the Palestine Exploration Quarterly. He retired from
teaching in 1978.
Bruce was a distinguished scholar on the life and ministry of the
Apostle Paul, and wrote several studies the best known of which is Paul:
Apostle
of the Free Spirit.
He also wrote commentaries on several biblical books including Acts of
the Apostles, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Bruce was a dedicated member of the Open Plymouth Brethren, though
he did not affirm the dispensationalism usually associated with that
movement.
At different times Bruce was elected as president of the (British)
Society for New Testament Studies and the Society for Old Testament
Studies. He is one of a handful of scholars thus recognized by his
peers in both fields.
Most of his works were scholarly, but he also penned several
mainstream works on the Bible that were quite popular. He viewed the
New Testament as historically reliable and that the truth claims of
Christianity hinged on its being so. To Bruce this did not mean that
the Bible was always precise, and this lack of precision could lead to
considerable confusion. However he believed that the passages that were
still open to debate were ones that had no substantial bearing on
Christian theology and thinking.
He was honored with two scholarly works by his colleagues and former
students, one to mark his sixtieth and the other to mark his seventieth
birthday. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, and served as
President of the Society for Old Testament Study, and also as President
of the Society for New Testament Study.
Books published or co-authored [incomplete]
- New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 1981. (First published in 1943 as Are the
New Testament Documents Reliable? New
Testament
Documents online version) ISBN
0802822193
- The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text With Introduction and
Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1951.
- The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on
the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1954. ISBN 0802821820
- The Epistles to the Colossians and the Ephesians. (New
International Commentary on the New Testament)
Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1957. [title may be incorrect;
Bruce wrote the Colossians commentary, and E.K. Simpson wrote the
Ephesians commentary; see the 1984 replacement below entirely by Bruce]
- Romans (Tyndale New Testament Commentary). Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1963. ISBN
0802814050
- Epistle to the Hebrews (New International Commentary on
the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1964.
- New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes. Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1968. ISBN
0802817297
- The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text With Introduction and
Commentary, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1970.
- Galatian Problems. John Rylands Library, 1971.
- Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament.
Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1974. ISBN
0802815758
- Paul: Apostle of The Free Spirit. Exeter: Paternoster,
1977. ISBN 0853642095
- History of the Bible in English. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press, 1978. ISBN 0195200888
- The Epistles of John. Grand Rapids, MI: William B.
Eerdmans, 1979. ISBN 0802817831
- Men and Movements in the Primitive Church. Exeter:
Paternoster, 1979. ISBN 0853647054
- I & II Corinthians (New Century Bible Commentary).
Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1980. ISBN
0802818390
- The Spreading Flame. Grand Rapids, MI: William B.
Eerdmans, 1980. ISBN 0802818056
- Epistle to the Galatians (New International Greek
Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1982.
ISBN 0802823874
- 1 & 2 Thessalonians (Word Biblical Commentary).
Thomas Nelson, 1982. ISBN 0849902444
- Hard Sayings of Jesus InterVarsity, 1983. ISBN 0877849277
- Jesus and Paul: Places They Knew. Thomas Nelson, 1983. ISBN 0840752814
- The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the
Ephesians. (New International Commentary on the New Testament).
Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1984. ISBN
0802825109 [This is Bruce's new commentary on Ephesians and
Philemon along with a revision of his 1957 commentary from the Simpson
and Bruce volume above]
- The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans,
1984. ISBN 0802808832
- Jesus: Lord & Savior InterVarsity, 1986. ISBN 0877849277
- The Message of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI:
William B. Eerdmans, 1986. ISBN 0802815251
- Romans (Tyndale New Testament Commentary), revised.
Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1986. ISBN
0802800629
- Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Attic Press,
1986. ISBN 0853640173
- The Canon of Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 1988. ISBN 083081258X
- The Book of the Acts, revised (New International
Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: William B.
Eerdmans, 1988. ISBN 0802825052
- Philippians, (New International Biblical Commentary),
1989.
Hendricksen. ISBN 094357515X
- Epistle to the Hebrews, revised. (New International
Commentary on the New Testament) Grand Rapids, MI: William B.
Eerdmans, 1990. ISBN 0802825141
- The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text With Introduction and
Commentary, 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1990. ISBN 0802809669
- Kaiser, Walter C., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, and Manfred
Brauch. Hard Sayings of the Bible. Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1996. ISBN 0877849277
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