F.F. Bruce Quotes & Sayings

What this letter does is bring us into an atmosphere in which the institution could only wilt and die. — F.F. Bruce

An individual gospel might have been designed as the gospel for a particular community, but when it was included in a collection with other writings of the same genre, the individual writings were viewed as complementary one to another, each presenting a distinctive aspect of the ministry of Jesus. — F.F. Bruce

Persistence in prayer for someone whom we don't like, however much it goes against the grain to begin with, brings about a remarkable change in attitude. — F.F. Bruce

Conversation with a view to timely instruction will help to build up a strong Christian character and stimulate growth in grace. — F.F. Bruce

Whatever else may be thought of the evidence from early Jewish and Gentile writers it does at least establish, for those who refuse the witness of Christian writings, the historical character of Jesus Himself. — F.F. Bruce

There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament. — F.F. Bruce

Paul like Jesus, shocked the guardians of Israel's law by his insistence on treating the law as a means to an end and not as an end in itself, by his refusal to let pious people seek security before God in their own piety, by his breaking down barriers in the name of the God who 'justifies the ungodly' and by his proclamation of a message of good news for the outsider. — F.F. Bruce

We are all, in our more candid moments, conscious of the fact that we bend more easily to ill than good, that we seek with greater ease the good of self than the good of others, that even our virtues are based more on fear of punishment than on love of good, and that pride, self-assertion, arrogance, the very element and essential of all sin, mingles itself like a pervading poison with all our pretence and practice of good. — F.F. Bruce

The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt. — F.F. Bruce

By an act of faith the Christian reader today may identify the New Testament, as it has been received, with the entire 'tradition of Christ'. But confidence in such an act of faith will be strengthened if the same faith proves to have been exercised by Christians in other places and at other times - if it is in line with the traditional 'criteria of canonicity'. And there is no reason to exclude the bearing of other lines of evidence on any position that is accepted by faith. In — F.F. Bruce

Un-Christian behavior on the part of any Christian is a disgrace to all Christians. — F.F. Bruce

Where love is the compelling power, there is no sense of strain or conflict or bondage in doing what is right: the man or woman who is compelled by Jesus' love and empowered by His Spirit does the will of God from the heart. — F.F. Bruce

Even in its canonical form a biblical document may be better understood if account be taken of successive stages in its composition. There — F.F. Bruce

The question to be asked of all teaching is not, 'Is it new?' but 'Is it true?' — F.F. Bruce

God's peace is joy resting. His joy is peace dancing. — F.F. Bruce

One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. — F.F. Bruce

The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. — F.F. Bruce

Any part of the human body can only be explained in reference to the whole body. And any part of the Bible can only be properly explained in reference to the whole Bible. — F.F. Bruce

The variant readings about which any doubt remains among textual critics of the New Testament affect no material question of historic fact or of Christian faith and practice — F.F. Bruce

The world has no idea how much it owes to the presence of righteous men in it. — F.F. Bruce

My doctrine of Scripture is based on my study of Scripture, not vice versa. — F.F. Bruce

The soul's deepest thirst is for God Himself, who has made us so that we can never be satisfied without Him. — F.F. Bruce

Canonical exegesis may be defined as the interpretation of individual components of the canon in the context of the canon as a whole. Even in the pre-canonical period evidence of intra-biblical interpretation is not lacking. In the Old Testament it can be seen how later law-codes took over the provisions of earlier codes and applied them to fresh situations, or how later prophets took up and reinterpreted the oracles of their predecessors. — F.F. Bruce

Sanctification is glory begun. Glory is sanctification completed. — F.F. Bruce

Great Babylon" (16:19): though Babylon is not mentioned in Scripture between Genesis 11:9 (Babel is the Hebrew name for Bab-ili, which we render Babylon) and the days of Hezekiah, it had its own position in Hebrew thought. Though it had little political importance between its capture by the Kassites in 1530 BC and its being made the capital of a Chaldean empire in 626 BC, it was the virtually undisputed commercial and religious capital of the Fertile Crescent. So it is the personification, so to speak, for the Bible, of humanity organized for financial profit, and of manmade religion in all its attractive sophistry. These are the two aspects which are dealt with in chapters 17 (religion) and 18 (commerce). If we compare Nahum and Habakkuk, we shall learn something of the different impression created by the pride and cruelty of Assyria and the corruption of human nature which the prophet saw in Babylon. — F.F. Bruce

God bestows His blessings without discrimination. The followers of Jesus are children of God, and they should manifest the family likeness by doing good to all, even to those who deserve the opposite. — F.F. Bruce

Spiritual influence never coincided with material affluence. — F.F. Bruce

Christian holiness is not a matter of painstaking conformity to the individual precepts of an external law code; it is rather a question of the Holy Spirit's producing His fruit in the life, reproducing those graces which were seen in perfection in the life of Christ. — F.F. Bruce