watching young scholars grow up on the internet

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:37 am By Peter Enns

While I was a faculty member at Westminster Theological Seminary, a colleague (not in biblical studies) wrote a rather heavy-handed response to a well-known biblical scholar. I felt embarrassed by it, so much so that I wrote the scholar in essence apologizing for the school and assuring him that the biblical studies department did not share this reviewer’s assessment. He wrote back with much class and pointed out that, unfortunately, sometimes young scholars say things they wind up either regretting, or... Read more

10 books that made me rethink the Bible

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:37 am By Peter Enns

This is not my 10 “best” books list, nor am I suggesting these are “must reads” for everyone (though they are all great books). These are books that crossed my path 20-25 years ago, mainly while in graduate school, that influenced my thinking in new and heretofore largely unexplored directions, and so opened my eyes to the larger world of the Old Testament, where it came from, and what it means to read it well. The first 6 books are from 4 of my Harvard... Read more

“aha” moments: biblical scholars tell their stories (18): Rob Dalrymple

Last updated on: November 11, 2014 at 6:35 am By Peter Enns

It’s been a while since our last “aha” moment, but I told you they’d be coming in now and then, and I’ll post them as they do. I don’t mind telling you, nothing I’ve ever posted here on Patheos has elicited as many private emails and Facebook messages as this series. There are a lot of you out there who are looking for company–others who have taken your same path and for many of the same reasons. You need to... Read more

is the “wrath of God” wrath?

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:38 am By Peter Enns

Here is Luke Timothy Johnson’s comment on what Paul means by “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” in Romans 1:18. …it is precisely the sort of expression that would have been instantly grasped by Paul’s first hearers but seems puzzling and off-putting to present-day readers. The “wrath of God” (orge tou theou) is not a psychological category but a symbol (widely used in Torah) for the retribution that comes to humans as a result of their willfill turning away from God; indeed, it is... Read more

experience teaches us to be radically undogmatic

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 9:15 am By Peter Enns

As Gadamer puts it, “The truth of experience always contains an orientation towards new experiences. The perfection of this experience, the perfect form of what we call ‘experienced,’ does not consist in the fact that someone already knows everything and knows better than anyone else. “Rather the experienced person proves to be, on the contrary, someone who is radically undogmatic; who, because of the many experiences he has had and the knowledge he has drawn from them is particularly equipped to have new experiences and to learn from them. “The dialectic of experience has its... Read more

superamazing major announcement!!

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:39 am By Peter Enns

Not really. Just letting y’all know that I’m going to begin moderating comments on my blog, so if there is lag time (a few hours or so) until your comment posts, you’ll know why. Nothing personal. It’s the best way for a busy guy to stay on top of what appears on his blog. Also, as most of you know, I invite spirited discussion and differences of opinion are welcome and encouraged, but I will (regrettably) begin deleting comments that I... Read more

12 Ways Some Evangelical Leaders Avoid Dealing with Real Problems in the Bible: A Response (of sorts) to Christianity Today.

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:40 am By Peter Enns

Writing books and having them reviewed go hand in hand. I bet book reviews go back to whatever third millennium BCE Sumerian priest carved into clay the first flood story and his rival priests who felt “He really could have done a better job.” Like most authors, I normally sit back and let my books stand on their own and learn what I can. But after reading the recent review of The Bible Tells Me So in Christianity Today by Andrew Wilson... Read more

does experience affect our theology?

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:40 am By Peter Enns

The Yankees aren’t in the World Series. And I’m mad. And I don’t like it. So, I got to thinking about the most depressing moment of my baseball life, the 2001 World Series–and don’t stop reading because this is going somewhere. 2001, of course, was the year of 9/11. NYC was in shock and everything was put on hold, including the MLB post-season, which ended that year in November. The Yankees wound up losing, and it’s been 14 years and... Read more

The NEW Jewish Study Bible: this is so awesome I’m getting verklempt

Last updated on: October 22, 2014 at 6:00 pm By Peter Enns

The second edition of The Jewish Study Bible (eds. Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler) is about the be released (October 28). Oxford University Press sent me a preview copy, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. I’ve been using the first edition for years, and I just absolutely love it. The translation used in both editions is fresh, and even where I don’t always see the point of some translation choices (though, who do I think I am, really), I find myself... Read more

the gift of darkness (or, why being bored in church might be God telling you something)

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:41 am By Peter Enns

St. John of the Cross writes, in his prologue to The Ascent of Mount Carmel: “A deeper enlightenment and wider experience than mine is necessary to explain the dark night through which a soul journeys toward that divine light of perfect union with God that is achieved, insofar as possible in this life, through love. The darknesses and trials, spiritual and temporal, that fortunate souls ordinarily undergo on their way to the high state of perfection are so numerous and profound... Read more