Ken Ham blasts God for not taking the Bible seriously

Last updated on: August 14, 2014 at 12:34 pm By Peter Enns

In a recent statement from his Creation Museum office, Ken Ham blasted God for “not taking the Bible seriously and undermining its authority.” “Only someone with liberal leanings would write a Bible like this,” Ham exploded. “Placing next to each other in the Old Testament two blatantly contradictory histories of Israel [1 Samuel-2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles] is nothing less than an all-out attack on the integrity of God’s inerrant word.” “Think about it. The transition of power from David to Solomon can’t... Read more

evangelicalism, evolution, and the facts

Last updated on: August 13, 2014 at 10:41 am By Peter Enns

A recent article in the NYT talks about the collision between “beliefs and facts.” It struck a chord. The author, Brendan Nyhan, argues that simply “knowing” scientific data, for example on evolution or climate change, isn’t as important as one’s beliefs and group identity–be it political or religious. The force that determines where people eventually wind up is their ideology and the group to which they belong, which give them a coherent life-narrative. Here is the key point of the article. In a new study, a Yale Law School professor,... Read more

“aha” moments: a pastor tells his story (15): anonymous

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 7:31 am By Peter Enns

I have long thought that the #1 factor in bringing about theological change is that “life happens”–new experiences that cannot be held in old containers. Many (but not all) of the “aha” moments posted thus far, including my own, have centered on some moments of intellectual clarity concerning Scripture that led to rethinking one’s view of the Bible, faith, and life. For others, like today’s anonymous author, “aha” moments originate in painful personal experiences that drive one to go back and re-examine one’s theology. I’m sure many... Read more

“aha” moments: biblical scholars tell their stories (14): Lindsey Trozzo

Last updated on: August 8, 2014 at 8:00 am By Peter Enns

Today’s “aha” moment is by Lindsey M. Trozzo (BA, Biola University, Biblical and Theological Studies; MA, Talbot School of Theology, NT). Trozzo is ABD in her PhD work at Baylor University, where she is writing her dissertation is on ethics in John’s Gospel and utilizing Rhetorical Criticism to uncover John’s non-propositional ethic. Trozzo is also working at Texas Christian University as the Research Assistant to the Bradford Chair (David Moessner), where, along with researching and teaching, she is coordinater the Second Century Seminar and manages subscriptions to Novum... Read more

want to read an excerpt from The Bible Tells Me So? (of course you do)

Last updated on: August 7, 2014 at 9:27 am By Peter Enns

The release of my upcoming book The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It is now less than a month away, and I know many of you–millions of you, perhaps billions, who can really tell after all?–are experiencing all sorts of emotional and physical symptoms while waiting to get your hands on it. To help prevent permanent injury or lengthy hospital stays, HarperOne has just made available an excerpt of the book on Scribd. Included... Read more

“We are all heroes of our own stories”: interview with Brandon Withrow on academic freedom in evangelicalism

Last updated on: August 6, 2014 at 6:45 am By Peter Enns

Today’s post is an interview with Brandon Withrow, who teaches religious studies at the University of Findlay, about his latest book Consider No Evil: Two Faith Traditions and the Problem of Academic Freedom in Religious Higher Education (co-authored with Menachem Wecker). Withrow and Wecker examine seminaries affiliated with two faith traditions–Christian and Jewish–and explore the challenges, as well as prospective solutions, confronting those religious academies when they grapple with staying true to their traditions, as they interpret them, while providing an arena that incubates honest and serious... Read more

“aha” moments: biblical scholars tell their stories (13): Carlos Bovell

Last updated on: August 5, 2014 at 2:51 pm By Peter Enns

Today’s “aha” moment is brought to you by Carlos Bovell, a frequent contributor to this blog (for his last post go here and work backwards). Bovell is a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary and The Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto. He is the author of Inerrancy and the Spiritual Formation of Younger Evangelicals (2007), By Good and Necessary Consequence: A Preliminary Genealogy of Biblical Foundationalism (2009), an edited volume, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Authority of Scripture (2011), and Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear (2012). ******** I can very definitely... Read more

“aha” moments: biblical scholars tell their stories (12): Megan DeFranza

Last updated on: August 1, 2014 at 6:22 am By Peter Enns

Today’s “aha” moment is by Megan K. DeFranza (PhD, Marquette University, MA Theology and MA Biblical Languages, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary). She is an author, educator, and facilitator of difficult conversations around sexuality and gender in the church. DeFranza has taught Theology, Church History, and The Great Conversation at Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Seminary as an adjunct professor and visiting instructor. She is the author of the forthcoming Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God,... Read more

“inerrancy doesn’t describe what the Bible does”–some comments from my ETS talk

Last updated on: July 29, 2014 at 7:12 am By Peter Enns

I could have sworn I posted this months ago, but didn’t. So here it is. These are my comments I gave at the Evangelical Theological Society in Baltimore last November as part of the panel discussing the book I contibuted to (along with Al Mohler, John Franke, Michael Bird, and Kevin Vanhoozer), Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy. Each of us had 15 minutes for some remarks before we began engaging each other. In retrospect I don’t think much was accomplished–nor could... Read more

Hurtado reviews Wright’s Paul

Last updated on: July 24, 2014 at 7:56 am By Peter Enns

For those interested, here is a link to Larry Hurtado’s blog where you can find another link to Hurtado’s somewhat appreciative yet largely critical review of N. T. Wright’s massive work Paul and the Faithfulness of God. Which leads me to my morning prayer: Lord, may I have the wisdom never to walk into the minefield of Pauline scholarship. Let me rather stay in relatively safe areas like who wrote the Pentateuch, virgin women as spoils of war, and why... Read more