Steven Carr

While he is long dead (although not as long dead as Jesus), I read some interesting gossip about F.F. Bruce, member of the Plymouth Brethren, and former holder of the title of person to name-drop as having proved Christianity true from a historical point of view.

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/03...-oxymoron.html

'So I wrote and asked him point-blank who wrote the Pastoral Epistles, and the like. I came to learn that he did not accept the Bible's attribution of the Pastorals (among others) to Paul, nor various other straightforward canonical evidence. He had a fairly standard liberal line, but he seldom came out with it in his writings, which evangelicals like me bought prodigiously.'

Is this a true reflection of F.F. Bruce's real beliefs?

andrewcriddle

I don't think Bruce would have wanted to say that the Pastorals are definitely Post-Pauline as distinct from written on Paul's behalf by an associate.

On the other hand his Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free makes clear that the questionable status of the Pastorals makes it very problematic to use them straightforwardly as sources for Paul's thought.

One issue is that FF Bruce's views appear to have changed somewhat (in a more 'liberal' direction) between the 1960's and the 1980's. However he seems to have consistently held a rather conservative line eg using Ephesians straightforwardly as a source for Paul's thought, holding a high view of the historical value of Luke-Acts etc.

Andrew Criddle

Steven Carr

Thanks for that information. Very interesting.