I recently began reading The Legacy of Israel in Judah’s Bible: History, Politics, and the Reinscribing of Tradition by Daniel E. Fleming, professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. I’m glad I did; it’s a great book. Israel began as a unified people but split into northern and southern kingdoms in 930 BC after the death of King Solomon. The northern kingdom retained the name “Israel” and the smaller southern kingdom was known as Judah, and its capital was... Read more
Peter Traben Haas, former evangelical and now senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Waterloo, Iowa, recently posted at Contemplative Christians his reflections on evangelicalism, Seven Steps to Leaving “Evangelical Christianity” without Losing Your Faith. Haas is also the author of The God Who is Here: A Contemplative Guide to Transforming Your Relationship with God and the Church. The book blurb may give you an idea of Haas’s orientation: While some suggest the problems we face today can be solved by updating Christianity... Read more
In a recent Ethics and Public Policy Center forum, Tim Keller spoke to a group of journalists and was asked about his views on gay marriage and homosexuality. Keller’s response included the following prediction of how evangelicals will make peace with this issue: “Large numbers of evangelical Christians, even younger ones…will continue to hold the view that same-sex marriage runs counter to their faith, even as they increasingly decide they either support or do not oppose making it the law of... Read more
Bottom line, I think the New Testament is being handled a lot better than the Old. Here are two thoughts on the last episode. 1. A young adult I know was watching the last episode with a few of her friends. One friend, a young man, who wasn’t churched or familiar with the Bible, said, “I didn’t know Jesus was so loving.” Whether or not a loving Jesus jumped out at me, that comment reminded me that my own sophisticated... Read more
Today we have a real treat (a witty pun–give it a minute): an interview with Rachel Marie Stone, author of Eat with Joy: Redeeming God’s Gift of Food. This isn’t a “guide to healthy eating” but a book that redeems food–it shows how food and shared meals are means of relating to God and each other. In other words, this is a theology book of the most practical sort, and her words of wisdom ring deeply true. Rachel is a regular writer for Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics... Read more
In a recent 6-minute podcast, “Can We Reconcile Creation and Evolution?”, John Piper shares his thoughts on the (in)compatibility of evolution and the Bible. Piper summarizes his thinking under three headings: Theoretically, evolution is a possible Christian option, provided God is not absent (which is a view consistent with some form of “theistic evolution” popular among many evangelicals). Though allowing for the option theoretically, theologically a Christian view of evolution requires a first man–an Adam. (This would seem to undercut–neutralize–the theoretical acceptance of... Read more
Helen De Cruz (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Institute of Philosophy), recently posted a brief article “A Darwinian Dilemma for the Theist Who Accepts Evolutionary Theory.” Despite the fact that Dr. De Cruz is clearly one of the brighter bulbs in the chandelier (she has PhDs in philosophy and archaeology, her areas of interestes are things like Cognitive Science of Religion, Cognitive Archaeology, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, and her home institution doesn’t come up on my spellcheck) she has posted a very readable article that theists... Read more
O.K., let’s try to be constructive here. I’m not crazy about the TV series “The Bible” on the History Channel, but neither am I losing sleep over it, and I’m sure plenty of people are enjoying it, learning from it, etc. But, had I been asked what should and shouldn’t be covered, here’s how I would have done it–and as I continue, keep in mind I know that I know less about TV producing than the people responsible for “The... Read more
There’s been a lot of slamming of “The Bible” TV series on the History Channel the past couple of weeks–some of it by me (and here)–but let’s come at this from another angle, shall we? First, Roma Downey and company give a clear disclaimer at the beginning of each episode that they have adapted the Bible, with an effort made to stay close to the spirit of the Bible. So, they are honest with the viewers. Second, is there any adaptation of... Read more
The Drew Marshall Show is “Canada’s most listened to spiritual talk show,” though probably not any more: last week they interviewed me. All kidding aside, this was a fun 15 minutes and I hope to be invited back so I can pontificate further on Evangelicalism’s failure to offer a convincing explanatory paradigm, the problem of divine violence in the OT, and perhaps have a chance to dislodge the shoe from my mouth. Drew Marshall show, 3-9-13 Read more
Peter Enns
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