BRiefs

Noted Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce dies

Frederick Fyvie Bruce, who has been called “the greatest evangelical scholar of our time,” died of cancer on September 11, 1990, at the age of 79. Born in Elgin, Scotland, on October 12, 1910, he began his academic career as a classical scholar at the University of Edinburgh in 1935. Although he never took a theology course, Bruce received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1957 from Aberdeen University in recognition of his scholarship and served as the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester from 1959 until his retirement in 1978. The British Academy made Bruce a Fellow in 1973 and awarded him the prestigious Burkitt Medal in Biblical Studies in 1979.

In addition to his teaching career, Bruce led a busy life as a writer and editor. He edited the Palestine Exploration Quarterly from 1956 through 1971, and he served as general editor of the New International Commentary on the New Testament series from 1963 until his death. He was also a contributing editor of Christianity Today for the past 20 years. As a member of BR’s Editorial Advisory Board, Bruce always made himself available to answer questions or lend advice.