F.F. Bruce on the Speeches in Acts

The following article is now on-line in PDF:

F.F. Bruce, The Speeches in the Acts of the Apostles. Tyndale New Testament Lecture, 1942. London: The Tyndale Press, 1943. pp.27.

This is an important article that deserves a renewed readership. FFB concludes:

We need not suppose that the speeches in Acts are verbatim reports in the sense that they record every word used by the speakers on the occasions in question. Paul, we know, was given to long sermons (cf. Acts xx, 2, 7, 9; xxviii, 23); but any one of the speeches attributed to him in Acts may be read through aloud in a few minutes. But I suggest that reason has been shown to conclude that the speeches reported by Luke are at least faithful epitomes, giving the gist of the arguments used. Even in summarizing the speeches. Luke would naturally introduce more or less of his own style; but in point of fact it frequently seems to be less, not more. Taken all in all, each speech suits the speaker, the audience, and the circumstances of delivery; and this, along with the other points we have considered, gives good ground, in my judgment, for believing these speeches to be, not inventions of the historian, but condensed accounts of speeches actually made, and therefore valuable and independent sources for the history and theology of the primitive Church.

Bruce returns to the subject after 30 years of further reflection in this article:

F. F. Bruce, "The Speeches In Acts: Thirty Years After," Robert Banks, ed., Reconciliation and Hope. New Testament Essays on Atonement and Eschatology Presented to L.L. Morris on his 60th Birthday. Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, 1974. pp.53-68.

Vox Evangelica Volume 7 (1971) now on-line

The following articles are now available in PDF:

F.F. Bruce, "Some Thoughts on Paul and Paulinism," Vox Evangelica 7 (1971): 5-16.

H. Dermot McDonald, "The Idea of Immortality," Vox Evangelica 7 (1971): 17-38.

David R. Carnegie, "The Kerygma in the Fourth Gospel," Vox Evangelica 7 (1971): 39-74.

In this extensive article David Carnegie explores the meaning a content of the Kerygma. He concludes:

This study suggests two major conclusions. In the first place, it seems impossible to deny that the Primitive Kerygma has exerted a profound influence on the Fourth Gospel. Again and again we have observed how the great developed themes of the Gospel may be traced back to the earliest preaching. We may therefore stress the claim that the really significant background to the Fourth Gospel must be sought in the earliest Christianity. Arising from this we may affirm that the real contribution of the Gospel is not to innovate nor to correct, but to enrich the content of already existing ideas. The strong link with primitive Christianity also increases the confidence with which we can assert Apostolic connection with it, if not actual authorship.

The second major point is that we have seen that the Fourth Gospel develops and enriches the original concepts along lines that are primarily Biblical and Jewish. The Fourth Gospel does not, therefore, represent a development along lines foreign to the original proclamation.

Since it has been consistently argued that the influence of Hellenism and Gnosticism is marginal (if that), it should be added that this does not mean that the writer did not present his material in such a way as would be intelligible to those of such outlooks. The intention of this study has rather been to stress how at every vital point the writer reveals his affinity to be firmly with the primitive preaching. It is surely part of the wonder of this Gospel that, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the writer has presented a message capable of reaching the mind of the Hellenist or Gnostic which was nevertheless entirely true to the earliest preaching of the Gospel.

Harold H. Rowdon, "Theological Education in Historical Perspective," Vox Evangelica 7 (1971): 75-87.