Loading...QUESTION:
Hey Bart, I know you studied under Bruce Metzger and my question is how did he feel about your skepticism toward the trustworthiness of the N.T?
RESPONSE:
Bruce Metzger and I had a long and very close relationship. I was his student for seven years and his research assistant for the New Revised Standard Version (he was the chair of the translation committee) for a couple of years. He directed my masters and PhD theses; he helped me break into publishing; he worked to get me into editorial positions for journals and monograph series; he guided my research until I struck out on my own. I dare say I was closer to him than any student that he had in his four decades of teaching at Princeton Theological Seminary. He became a kind of father figure for me. He was a great New Testament scholar and a great man.
I first heard of Bruce Metzger when I was in college studying Greek. My Greek professor at Wheaton, Gerald Hawthorne, knew that I was interested in studying the Greek manuscript tradition of the New Testament, and he told me that if I wanted to study with the world expert, I should apply to Princeton Theological Seminary for my graduate work and study with Bruce Metzger, who had taught there for his entire career.
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Bruce Metzger is the author of several books including The Early Versions of the New Testament and The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, And Restoration.
Good gravy, Bart, if you need an electronic copy of a hardcopy work, have one of your grad students scan it as a searchable PDF. 🙂
Yup, if I wanted a copy or thought it was of any use, that’s what I’d do!!
Wow. Amazing and interesting story, Bart. Please continue…
Absolutely fascinating. Please continue on this subject. I have never thought of Metzger as being “too conservative.”
It is a form of high compliment when you can acknowledge those areas where he was not as highly respected along with his true strengths. It rises him to the level of Human Being (why am I thinking about “LIttle Big Man”?!). What greater title can we aspire to.
As a teenager, somehow I came upon one of his books on the Bible and read it…now at 70, and a retired Lutheran pastor, I find myself dealing with what he wrote and you who followed up on his work…this is a good…part of my retirement work is to deal with the NT and early Christianity.
Ok Bart. Scan your thesis to PDF and publish it. If you can still make paper copies, you can make a PDF of it. My guess is you have students who would love the chance to make points with you. Thanks.
I”ve thought about scanning it. But not publishing it! It is definitely not worth publishing. But it’s a rather sincere first attempt at scholarship.
Bart, imagine it’s 85CE. The author of Matthew is just finishing his gospel, lays down his pen, picks up his well-worn copies of Q and Mark and throws them on the fire because he’s moved on and produced something better and so he can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to look at those worn out old pages anymore. People are still referencing your paper. Please consider scanning it and publishing it online somewhere.
Interesting!