Bruce M. Metzger: Difference between revisions

In 1944, Metzger married Isobel Elizabeth Mackay, daughter of the third president of the Seminary, the Scot, [[John A. Mackay]].<ref>Bruce Manning Metzger, ''Reminiscences of an Octogenarian'' (1997), 32.</ref> That year, he was promoted to Assistant Professor. In 1948, he became Associate Professor, and full Professor in 1954. In 1964, Metzger was named the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature. In 1969, he was elected to membership in the [[Catholic Biblical Association]]. In 1971, he was elected president of both the [[Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas]] and the [[Society of Biblical Literature]]. The following year, he became president of the North American Patristic Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://patristics.org/about/|title=About - NAPS – The North American Patristics Society|first=NAPS – The North American Patristics|last=Society}}</ref> Metzger was visiting fellow at [[Clare Hall, Cambridge]] in 1974 and [[Wolfson College, Oxford]] in 1979. In 1978, he was elected corresponding fellow of the [[British Academy]], the Academy's highest distinction for persons who are not residents in the United Kingdom. In 1986, Metzger became a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=Princeton+Theological+&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |website=American Philosophical Society |access-date=October 7, 2022}}</ref> At the age of seventy, after teaching at Princeton Theological Seminary for a period of forty-six years, he retired as Professor [[Emeritus]]. In 1994, Bruce Metzger was honoured with the Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies by the [[British Academy]]. He was awarded [[honorary doctorate]]s from [[Lebanon Valley College]], [[University of Findlay|Findlay College]], the [[University of St Andrews]], the [[University of Münster]] and [[Potchefstroom Campus|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."<ref>James H. Moorhead, ''Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012): 434.</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bible.org/article/inerrancy-and-text-critical-problem-romans-51|title=Inerrancy and the Text-Critical Problem in Romans 5:1}}</ref>

 

 

==Books and commentaries==

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).<ref>James A. Brooks, "Bruce Metzger as Textual Critic," ''Princeton Seminary Bulletin'', vol. 15, no. 2, new series (1994), 157.</ref> The first volume of a series that he founded and edited, ''New Testament Tools and Studies,'' appeared in 1960.

 

 

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.<ref>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.</ref> 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.”<ref>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.</ref>

 

==Works==

[[Category:1914 births]]

[[Category:2007 deaths]]

[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]

[[Category:20th-century American Presbyterian ministers]]

[[Category:20th-century translators]]

[[Category:Christian scholars]]

[[Category:Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy]]

[[Category:Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders]]

[[Category:Presbyterians from Pennsylvania]]

[[Category:Presidents of the Society of Biblical Literature]]

[[Category:Princeton Theological Seminary alumni]]