THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, by F. F. Bruce

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

by Steve West

 

Contents

1. The Meaning of “Gospel”
2. The Gospel according to Jesus
3. The Gospel Confronts Jews
4. The Gospel Confronts Paganism
5. The Gospel Confronts the Roman Empire
6. The Gospel Confronts “Christian Deviations”
7. The Finality of the Gospel

 

About the Author

Frederick Fyvie Bruce was one of the most respected evangelical New Testament scholars of the twentieth century, recognized as a theologically conservative scholar of careful historical scholarship.

 

Overview

This book originates from a series of lectures Bruce gave at Calvin College in 1958 and was originally published in the UK in 1959 under the title, The Apostolic Defence of the Gospel. The famous New Testament scholar explores how the apostles and New Testament writers defended the gospel in their own first century setting. 

Bruce approaches his subject not as a philosopher but as a historian and biblical exegete. He points out that the gospel entered a world filled with competing belief systems and hostile audiences. The apostles did not employ one universal argument. Rather, they adapted their presentation to the people they addressed while never changing the content of the gospel itself.

The New Testament presents several different apologetic approaches depending on the audience:

• To Jews, the apostles emphasized fulfillment of prophecy and God’s saving acts in history. 
• To Gentiles, they appealed to creation, providence, conscience, and history. 
• To Roman authorities, they defended Christianity as neither politically subversive nor socially dangerous. 
• Against heretics, they defended the apostolic message concerning the true person and work of Christ. 

 

Bruce’s “Introduction”

Christian witness in the New Testament called repeatedly for the defence of the gospel against opposition of many kinds—religious, cultural and political. Writing from prison in Philippians 1:16 Paul speaks of himself as posted there ‘for the defence of the gospel’. Some years later Peter, addressing his fellow Christians in Asia Minor at a time when their faith was being exposed to a severe test, says: ‘Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence’ (1 Pet. 3:15). The Greek word which both Paul and Peter use for ‘defence’ is apologia, from which we derive the words ‘apology’, ‘apologist’ and ‘apologetic’.

The second century AD is the period specially known as ‘the age of the apologists’. It was the age when Christian leaders began to fight back against the repressive policy of the Roman state, regarding the pen as a mightier and worthier weapon than the sword. In the earlier part of that century we have the apologetic writings of Quadratus and Aristides; we have those of Justin Martyr in its middle years, while Minucius Felix and Tertullian bring up the rear at its close.

Christianity, said these second-century apologists, is innocent of the charges of sedition and immorality brought against it. It is preposterous indeed that honest and law-abiding people should be falsely accused of crimes and vices which have been freely ascribed to the gods worshipped by their accusers! 

Christianity, they added, is the final and true religion, by contrast with the imperfection of Judaism and the error of paganism. Not only does Christianity provide the proper fulfilment of that earlier revelation of God given through the prophets of Israel in Old Testament times; it also supplies the answer to the quests and aspirations expressed in the philosophies and cults of the other nations. It was divinely intended from the beginning to be a universal religion.

So, with varying emphases, they argued. But the main lines of argument found in their writings were already laid down in the first century; they are plainly to be recognized in the New Testament. It is with this New Testament witness that we are to concern ourselves in the following chapters. And it may be that such a study will help us to discover lines

along which the defence of the gospel and other forms of Christian witness should be conducted in our own day, when necessary allowances have been made for the differing situations of the first and twentieth centuries.

But in every form of Christian witness, including apologetic and polemic, the object must always be to commend the Saviour to others. A victory in debate is a barren thing compared with the winning of men and women to the cause of Christ. If at times we are inclined to forget this, the Christians of the first century will refresh our memories.

They will remind us, too, that, while Jesus remains the same, and the gospel in the twentieth century does not differ in essence from the gospel in the first century, the means adopted to commend it may vary widely according to the changing situations in which Christian witnesses find themselves. The men and women who commended the gospel in the first century ‘had understanding of the times’; the kingdom of God calls loudly for such men and women today. . . .

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