Bruce M. Metzger

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bruce M. Metzger
Born
Bruce Manning Metzger

(1914-02-09)February 9, 1914
DiedFebruary 13, 2007(2007-02-13) (aged 93)
Spouse
Isobel Metzger
(m. 1944)
Academic background
New Testament canon
Notable works
  • Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek (1955)
  • The Canon of the New Testament (1987)

Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American

textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the American Bible Society and United Bible Societies. He was a scholar of Greek, New Testament, and New Testament textual criticism, and wrote prolifically on these subjects. Metzger was an influential New Testament scholar of the 20th century.[1][2][3] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1986.[4]

Biography

Metzger was born on February 9, 1914, in

Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1940, he earned his MA from Princeton University and became an instructor in New Testament. Two years later, he earned his PhD ("Studies in a Greek Gospel Lectionary (Greg. 303
)"), also from Princeton University.

In 1944, Metzger married Isobel Elizabeth Mackay, daughter of the third president of the Seminary, the Scot,

Potchefstroom University. "Metzger's unrivaled knowledge of the relevant languages, ancient and modern; his balanced judgment; and his painstaking attention to detail won him respect across the theological and academic spectrum."[11] Conservative evangelical scholar Daniel B. Wallace described Metzger as "a fine, godly, conservative scholar, although his view of biblical authority is not quite the same as many other evangelicals."[12]

Shortly after his 93rd birthday, Metzger died in Princeton, New Jersey, on February 13, 2007. He was survived by his wife Isobel, who would die at the age of 98 on July 27, 2016, in Princeton, New Jersey,[13] as well as their two sons, John Mackay Metzger (b. 1948)[citation needed] and Dr. James Bruce Metzger (1952–2020).[14]

Books and commentaries

Left to right: unidentified, Bruce Metzger, Kurt Aland (center), Allen Wikgren, Matthew Black

Metzger edited and provided commentary for many Bible translations and wrote dozens of books. He was an editor of the

Patriarch Demetrius I of Constantinople.[15]

Central to his scholarly contribution to New Testament studies is his trilogy: The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (1964; 2nd ed., 1968; 3d enlarged ed., 1992); The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations (1977); The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (1987).[16] The first volume of a series that he founded and edited, New Testament Tools and Studies, appeared in 1960.

Metzger's commentaries often utilize

Epistles of Clement to be inspired but not canonical.[17]

In discussing the canon, Metzger identifies three criteria “for acceptance of particular writings as sacred, authoritative, and worthy of being read in services of worship...”, criteria which were “generally adopted during the course of the second century, and were never modified thereafter”, namely, orthodoxy (conformity to the rule of faith), apostolicity, and consensus among the churches.[18] He concludes that, “In the most basic sense neither individuals nor councils created the canon; instead they came to recognize and acknowledge the self-authenticating quality of these writings, which imposed themselves as canonical upon the church.”[19]

He served on the advisory board for Peake's Commentary on the Bible (1962), and contributed an article on "The Early Versions of the New Testament." He was co-editor for The Oxford Companion to the Bible (1993).

Works

List of books

List of translations

Selected articles and chapters

Selected interviews and writings about Bruce M. Metzger

Festschriften

References

  1. ^ Margalit Fox (February 16, 2007). "Bruce Metzger, Scholar and Bible Translator, Dies at 93". The New York Times.
  2. ^ New Testament Scholar and Bible Translator Bruce Metzger Dies
  3. ^ "Bruce Metzger dies at 93". Archived from the original on August 20, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  5. ^ A Centennial Tribute to Bruce Metzger: Remembering His Achievements, Influence, and Legacy, Princeton Seminary, January 24, 2014, archived from the original on February 9, 2014, retrieved February 12, 2014
  6. ^ Bruce Manning Metzger, Reminiscences of an Octogenarian (1997), 12.
  7. ^ Bruce Manning Metzger, Reminiscences of an Octogenarian (1997), 42.
  8. ^ Bruce Manning Metzger, Reminiscences of an Octogenarian (1997), 32.
  9. ^ Society, NAPS – The North American Patristics. "About - NAPS – The North American Patristics Society".
  10. ^ "Member History". American Philosophical Society. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  11. ^ James H. Moorhead, Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012): 434.
  12. ^ "Inerrancy and the Text-Critical Problem in Romans 5:1".
  13. ^ "Obituary of Isobel M. Metzger | The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Prin..." September 7, 2021. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "Newcomer Family Obituaries - Dr. James B. Metzger 1952 - 2020".
  15. ^ a b "SBL Publications".
  16. ^ James A. Brooks, "Bruce Metzger as Textual Critic," Princeton Seminary Bulletin, vol. 15, no. 2, new series (1994), 157.
  17. ^ "The Fathers … did not consider inspiration to be a unique characteristic of canonical writings." Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 256, and see 211, n. 6.
  18. ^ Bruce M. Metzger, The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content, 3rd ed., rev. and enlarged (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 317–8. And see the detailed discussion in Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 251–4.
  19. ^ Bruce M. Metzger, The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content, 3rd ed., rev. and enlarged (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 318. Also see Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 287–8.

External links