Several on-line sources are reporting that Bruce Metzger, long time professor of NT at Princeton Theological Seminary, has died at the age of 93 of natural causes.

It would be hard to imagine any scholar who has contributed more to a field than Bruce Metzger.  Metzger was widely known and almost universally respected.  My first introduction to the academic study of the NT was in an undergraduate class where we used his New Testament: It’s Background, Growth, and Content.  Even many people who have never heard of Metzger have benefited from his work, as he was the general editor of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

Metzger was particular interested in the text critical study of the NT, and his work has pushed the field forward in numerous ways.  Metzger was also the editor of the United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament, one of the two main critical editions of the Greek text.  Despite the highly specialized nature of  his work, his scholarship was never isolated from the needs of the church.  Metzger remained an ordained minister in the Presbyterian church throughout his career.

A memorial service will be held on February 20th.

Permalink