F.F. Bruce

F.F. Bruce was a biblical scholar who traversed the secular academy with devotion to the truth of the gospel. On this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols introduces a theologian who was marked by his love of God’s Word.

F.F. Bruce was a twentieth century biblical scholar. And in case you're wondering what those initials stand for, they stand for Frederick Fyvie Bruce. He was born in 1910, and he died in 1990. He was born in Scotland. His father was a minister in the Plymouth Brethren Church. Bruce had an outstanding academic career as a student and as a professor. He studied at the University of Aberdeen at Cambridge. He pursued further studies in languages, in philology, at the University of Manchester and in Vienna. He taught at Edinburgh, at the University of Leeds, at the University of Sheffield, and he ended his career at the Victoria University of Manchester. He was widely published with books of substantial scholarship. One of his better-known books was Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free. It was aimed at a popular audience, and it even weighs in at 1,391 footnotes. With every book he wrote, and he commented on this in his autobiography, he always felt that his father was watching over his shoulder as he wrote so that Bruce would be faithful to the biblical text.

He inherited from his father love from Scripture, and Bruce came to his teaching and to his writing from that context. He moved in what would be very liberal contexts and moved among very liberal scholars, yet he remained conservative, a biblical and theological conservative. He had a high commitment to the historical reliability and truthfulness of Scripture. He was a master of languages, knowing both the ancient languages and the modern European languages, so he was conversant both in the primary sources and in the full range of contemporary scholarship. Those who knew him said he was a virtual library of hymns and of poems, as he seemed to know a ton of both by heart. Those who knew him also said that he kept a filing system of material by chapter and verse; that is, every chapter and every verse from Genesis to Revelation.

Well, what did he do with all of this? Well, he taught, and he wrote, and he gave lectures. He wrote many hefty commentaries and a few that were more practical, or applicational, in nature. He would go on to have views that would put him at odds with people here and there. He was an egalitarian. He tended to avoid systematic theology and doctrinal confessions, but the center of his work and thought was the gospel and the work of Christ—a work that was indeed true and historic. It really happened, and it was in fact true.

Well, let's go back to his book, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free. In the preface, Bruce notes that this book of his grew out of eighteen years of intensive study in the life and in the epistles of Paul. In the introduction, he speaks of how Paul was “a man of letters.” These epistles that Paul wrote are classics among Greek literature. In addition to being “a man of letters,” he was also “a man of action.” Unquenchable energy characterized the work of the Apostle Paul. Think of the travel that he did; think of the accomplishments of Paul. Of course, all of this was by God's grace and for God's glory, but it was still Paul hard at work.

And then Bruce says this, "But Paul's preeminent contribution to the world has been his presentation of the good news of free grace—as Paul himself would've put it (rightly), his re-presentation of the good news explicit in Jesus' teaching and embodied in Jesus' life and work. The free grace of God which Paul proclaimed is a free grace in more senses than one—free in the sense that it is sovereign and unfettered, free in the sense that it is held forth to men and women for their acceptance by faith alone, and free in the sense that it is the source and principle of their liberation from all kinds of inward and spiritual bondage, including the bondage of legalism and the bondage of moral anarchy. The God whose grace Paul proclaimed is the God who alone does great wonders." Well, that's F.F. Bruce on the Apostle Paul, and I'm Steve Nichols. Thanks for joining us for 5 Minutes in Church History.