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The New Testament Documents Are They Reliable Analysis

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F. F. Bruce. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Grand Rapids: William B. Eardmans Publishing Company, sixth edition, 1981 SUMMARY Bruce makes it clear that this volume is dedicated to Christian students throughout the world. However, in the “Preface to the Fifth Edition,” he sets the tone by identifying the target audience for his work: “non-theological students” who are studying the New Testament documents, and who are more inclined to tolerate a source which has historical relevance as opposed to a source that does not (xiv). Thus, Bruce sets out with the goal of melding theology and history in an attempt at answering the question posed in the title, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Bruce uses 124 pages and 10 chapters in an attempt to prove that the New Testament documents are reliable. He provides ample …show more content…

However, the volume is not without a few very minor weaknesses. For one, chapter 6, entitled “The Importance of Paul’s Evidence,” when compared to the other chapters in the volume, comes across as lacking. Paul’s contribution to the New Testament documents is extensive and the lack of attention provided by Bruce in this book could leave some of the targeted audience wondering if the lack of attention is due to a lack of evidence. Ironically, in other instances he tends to overwhelm the reader with too much information that does not have historical value as far as proving the reliability of the New Testament documents. This is apparent in the chapter titled “The Writings of Luke,” when he describes Luke’s background. Finally, the only other negative the author of this review could come up with regarding this volume is somewhat of a selfish matter. After reading this volume one is left with the desire for more evidence. Due to the size of the volume Bruce is only able to scratch the surface in some

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