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The Defense of the Gospel in the New Testament
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September 7, 2024
THE FAMED NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR LOOKS AT THE EARLIEST "APOLOGIAS"
Frederick Fyvie Bruce (1910-1990) was a Biblical scholar who taught at a variety of universities, and was editor of The Evangelical Quarterly and the Palestine Exploration Quarterly. He wrote a number of influential books, such as 'Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament,' 'Are the New Testament documents reliable?,' 'New Testament History,' etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1959 book (revised edition, 1977), "Christian witness in the New Testament called repeatedly for the DEFENCE of the gospel against opposition of many kinds---religious, cultural and political... The second century AD is the period specially known as 'the age of the apologists.' It was the age when Christian leaders began to fight back against the repressive policy of the Roman state, regarding the pen as a mightier and worthier weapon than the sword... But the main lines of argument found in their writings were already laid down in the first century; they are plainly to be recognized in the New Testament. It is with this New Testament witness that we are to concern ourselves with in the following chapters. And it may be that such a study will help us to discover lines along which the defence of the gospel ... should be conducted in our own day." (Pg. vii-viii)
He observes that "But [Jesus'] conception of the kingdom of God, and of the means by which it was to be inaugurated, differed totally from that of Judas the Galilean and others who thought as he did. The nature of the kingdom of God, as Jesus proclaimed it, was bound up with the character of the God whose kingdom it was. In the forefront of Jesus' teaching stands his revelation of God... Jesus appears to have done something unprecedented in addressing God as 'Abba'---the term which children used in addressing their father or in speaking about him one to another in the intimacy of the family circle... his example was followed by his disciples and even, at a somewhat later stage, by Greek-speaking Christians... The essence of the Kingdom of God lay in the acceptance of God's will as one's rule of life." (Pg. 7-8)
He interprets the statement of Paul in 2 Thess 2:3, ff ['the son of perdition,' etc.: "This description echoes the words of Jesus about 'the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not' [Mk 13:14], reinterpreted in light of Gaius's attempt ten years previously to have divine honours paid him in the Jerusalem temple. But for the present, Paul goes on, the manifestation of this 'man of lawlessness' is restrained by a power ... The restraining power is probably the imperial authority as Paul knew it, a valued protection against the lawless forces which rose up to hinder the progress of God's work. But Paul thought it best to express his mind in veiled language." (Pg. 66)
He states, "The Revelation of John reflects the situation of the Asian churches under the Flavian dynasty (AD 69-96). A fierce persecution of Christians---no doubt that of AD 64---has already broken out in Rome (Rev 17:6), and in the province of Asia, too, the hostility of the authorities is directed relentlessly against the churches. This hostility John sees as initiated by the devil, the great red dragon, who wages war against the saints through two principal agents---the beasts of Revelation 13. The former of these beasts, the beast from the sea (or abyss), is the imperial power; the other, the beast from the land (otherwise called the false prophet), is the imperial cult. The power which in Paul's time had operated as the minister of God now appears as energized by the devil to destroy the people of God." (Pg. 67-68)
He asks, "Was a faith whose origin was so closely tied to a particular place and a particular time really relevant for other places and other times? This is the situation to which the last survivor of Jesus' closest companions addresses himself in the Fourth Gospel... He considers himself first and foremost as a witness---a witness to things which he and his companions saw and heard in Palestine towards the end of the third decade of the century. Bu the records his witness in such a way that people in the wider Hellenistic world of the last decade of the century, whether Jews or Gentiles, may share something of what he and his friends experienced as they saw the glory of God shining in the life of 'Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'" (Pg. 98-99)
This book is a refreshing change from Bruce's more typically purely "historical" works, and will be of interest to all students of New Testament history.
Frederick Fyvie Bruce (1910-1990) was a Biblical scholar who taught at a variety of universities, and was editor of The Evangelical Quarterly and the Palestine Exploration Quarterly. He wrote a number of influential books, such as 'Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament,' 'Are the New Testament documents reliable?,' 'New Testament History,' etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1959 book (revised edition, 1977), "Christian witness in the New Testament called repeatedly for the DEFENCE of the gospel against opposition of many kinds---religious, cultural and political... The second century AD is the period specially known as 'the age of the apologists.' It was the age when Christian leaders began to fight back against the repressive policy of the Roman state, regarding the pen as a mightier and worthier weapon than the sword... But the main lines of argument found in their writings were already laid down in the first century; they are plainly to be recognized in the New Testament. It is with this New Testament witness that we are to concern ourselves with in the following chapters. And it may be that such a study will help us to discover lines along which the defence of the gospel ... should be conducted in our own day." (Pg. vii-viii)
He observes that "But [Jesus'] conception of the kingdom of God, and of the means by which it was to be inaugurated, differed totally from that of Judas the Galilean and others who thought as he did. The nature of the kingdom of God, as Jesus proclaimed it, was bound up with the character of the God whose kingdom it was. In the forefront of Jesus' teaching stands his revelation of God... Jesus appears to have done something unprecedented in addressing God as 'Abba'---the term which children used in addressing their father or in speaking about him one to another in the intimacy of the family circle... his example was followed by his disciples and even, at a somewhat later stage, by Greek-speaking Christians... The essence of the Kingdom of God lay in the acceptance of God's will as one's rule of life." (Pg. 7-8)
He interprets the statement of Paul in 2 Thess 2:3, ff ['the son of perdition,' etc.: "This description echoes the words of Jesus about 'the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not' [Mk 13:14], reinterpreted in light of Gaius's attempt ten years previously to have divine honours paid him in the Jerusalem temple. But for the present, Paul goes on, the manifestation of this 'man of lawlessness' is restrained by a power ... The restraining power is probably the imperial authority as Paul knew it, a valued protection against the lawless forces which rose up to hinder the progress of God's work. But Paul thought it best to express his mind in veiled language." (Pg. 66)
He states, "The Revelation of John reflects the situation of the Asian churches under the Flavian dynasty (AD 69-96). A fierce persecution of Christians---no doubt that of AD 64---has already broken out in Rome (Rev 17:6), and in the province of Asia, too, the hostility of the authorities is directed relentlessly against the churches. This hostility John sees as initiated by the devil, the great red dragon, who wages war against the saints through two principal agents---the beasts of Revelation 13. The former of these beasts, the beast from the sea (or abyss), is the imperial power; the other, the beast from the land (otherwise called the false prophet), is the imperial cult. The power which in Paul's time had operated as the minister of God now appears as energized by the devil to destroy the people of God." (Pg. 67-68)
He asks, "Was a faith whose origin was so closely tied to a particular place and a particular time really relevant for other places and other times? This is the situation to which the last survivor of Jesus' closest companions addresses himself in the Fourth Gospel... He considers himself first and foremost as a witness---a witness to things which he and his companions saw and heard in Palestine towards the end of the third decade of the century. Bu the records his witness in such a way that people in the wider Hellenistic world of the last decade of the century, whether Jews or Gentiles, may share something of what he and his friends experienced as they saw the glory of God shining in the life of 'Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'" (Pg. 98-99)
This book is a refreshing change from Bruce's more typically purely "historical" works, and will be of interest to all students of New Testament history.
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