Renowned Bible teacher Gordon Fee has died aged 88 – though he would undoubtedly refute that!
The late pastor-teacher is widely reported to have told students, on their first day of a New Testament class, that when they ever came across a headline saying he was dead – ‘Do not believe it! He is singing with his Lord and his king’.
The self-described ‘scholar on fire’ followed his father into ministry before entering academia. Fee considered Scripture and its interpretation as a ‘touch of lightning’, not ‘mere history’. He was a prolific author, his most notable titles including How to read the Bible for all its worth (as co-author); New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors and Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God.
Fee was also a member of the Committee on Bible Translation which translated the New International Version (NIV) and its revision; and was editor of the New International Commentaries series from 1990 to 2012.
He died on 25 October in New York City where a memorial service will be held. Dr Douglas Moo, Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College, said: ‘Gordon Fee had an enormous influence on many aspects of Biblical scholarship and the Christian life. Perhaps one of the least known, however, is his over 30 years of work on the Committee on Bible Translation, the team of scholars responsible for the New International Version of the Bible. Readers of that Bible, the widest read of all modern English Bibles, will encounter his translation suggestions on almost every page … Passion for Christ and for accurate understanding and communication of the Scripture marked all his service for the Lord.’
