Do you want a book that describes how the biblical writers themselves actually understood the cosmos? Of course you do. What a dumb question. Well, do you want that book to deal honestly with ancient data instead of “defending” the Bible, while at the same time being sensitive to more conservative readers? Sure you do. And would you want that book to be actually short (about 200 pages), readable, with pictures, and even a bit funny now and then? “Yes of course,... Read more
Today’s post is an interview with Berry Friesen and John K. Stoner, authors of If Not Empire, What?: A Survey of the Bible. The authors are deeply concerned that “empire” thinking is a threat to the earth. They also feel the Bible has something to say about it. By surveying the Bible, they make the case that the Bible is a collection of diverse, and conflicting, “arguments about life, love, and power.” The Bible’s big argument, however, critiques “the imperial paradigm... Read more
As I was working on The Bible Tells Me So, I became conscious on a more present level of the debt I owe Judaism in my own reading of the Bible, a process that began while in graduate school. One day I was eating lunch with a Jewish classmate who grew up in Israel. We were both in our first year, and somehow the topic turned to the story of Adam and Eve. Many Christians understand this story’s meaning not only to be... Read more
Kurt Eichenwald’s Christmas missive in Newsweek, “The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s A Sin,” has predictably gotten it’s share of strong reactions. As others have pointed out, Eichenwald’s rhetoric is inflammatory, and his grasp of the issues is second-hand–at points rather naive, at least from the point of view of those who have been around the block a few times on the issues he raises, and especially those who work with the Bible for a living. But he’s still basically right. Even though... Read more
On Christmas day, Eric Metaxas published an op-ed piece in the WSJ “Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God.” The title concerned me a bit. Metaxas is a bright guy, and I was hoping the piece wouldn’t add to the mountain of poorly conceived Christian apologetics about proving God’s existence. It seems, though, this Metaxas has fallen into that very rut, and I really wish he hadn’t. There are a lot of thoughtful Christian theologians (and others religious thinkers) and scientists out there who... Read more
And by “best” I mean most page views. I think some others deserve to be on this list, but readers found them less interesting–probably because they were logical, balanced, well-argued, not sarcastic or satirical, and showed no frontal nudity whatsoever. These are listed in chronological order. Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham: giving credibility to nonsense (or, walking into an apologetic war machine) Nye seems to think he is walking into a debate of some sort over science, and that presenting the data will, if not prove victorious,... Read more
The following is an extended excerpt from Addison Hodges Hart’s new book Strangers and Pilgrims Once More: Being Disciples of Jesus in a Post-Christendom World, specifically, chapter 3 “Saying Yes to the Bible, and No to Biblicism” (part 1, pages 57-63). Eerdmans was kind enough to send me a word file of these pages, lest my wrists fall off typing it all out. Hart’s articulation of the nature of the Bible will immediately ring true to some of you, I’m sure. It is,... Read more
I just saw Exodus: Gods and Kings, preparing myself for 2’20” of absolute nonsense, judging by most of the reviews I’ve read. But I honestly don’t know what all the fuss was about. I found the movie to be amazingly accurate, or at least plausible and possibly accurate. The critics are wrong. First, I think we need to trust Ridley Scott here, folks. He’s been making movies for a long time, and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. Just look... Read more
I kid of course. I happen to think the OT has a lot going for it, which is why I force my hapless undergrads to deal with it. But not too long ago it snuck in the backdoor of my mind that the OT has something of core spiritual value that the NT doesn’t–the repeated observation and lamentation over God’s absence, the sense of God’s abandonment. The OT, as we all know, has a serious dark side–what Walter Brueggemann calls Israel’s “counter testimony.”... Read more
I tuned into NPR on the way home from church today and was reminded that the Sandy Hook tragedy happened 2 years ago today. This still unnerves me, as a father of 3 (thankfully) grown adult children. Here is what I wrote 2 years ago. The NPR report was on Jimmy Greene, father of Ana Green, and jazz composer and musician. He just released a CD as a tribute to his daughter. Great music. Great dad. And a very moving story. ... Read more
Peter Enns
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