What got me thinking about all this is the recent discovery in Egypt of the oldest known depiction of a pharaoh, dating to about 3000 BC. Which is quite old, I assure you. 5000 years ago is a long time–3000 years before Christ. I will be 52 in January, and, even given my limited math skills, I realized that my age sort of divides evenly into 5000. So, about 100 of my lifespans will get us back to a pharaoh... Read more
Before I get going here, I want to be crystal clear about something. I am not remotely interested in trying to change Ken Ham’s mind about Genesis. Nor am I trying to raid his flock and steal his sheep. But quite often he says things that are transparently wrong and highly misleading. My concern is for those who are being mislead and have perhaps begun to sense it, and might be looking for voices to confirm their suspicions and finding a way... Read more
For those in the Stockton, CA area, Anthony Le Donne announced on his blog that will part of a public panel discussion at the University of the Pacific on the recent controversy over whether Jesus had a wife. Le Donne is the author of Historical Jesus: What Can We Know and How Can We Know It?, The Historiographical Jesus: Memory, Typology, and the Son of David, and Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity. He is also one of several biblical scholars... Read more
Over at The Biologos Forum, David Williams has begun a series on what C. S. Lewis thought about evolution, Genesis, myth, and how all this fits together for Christianity (Surprised by Jack: C.S. Lewis on Mere Christianity, the Bible, and Evolutionary Science, Part 1). Williams’s series is prompted by a recent publication of the Discovery Institute edited by John G. West (senior fellow and vice president). The Discovery Institute is a well-known apologetics organization advocating, among other things, Intelligent Design, which, according to their website,... Read more
That got your attention. The Print on Demand version of our e-book Genesis for Normal People: A Guide to the Most Controversial, Misunderstood, and Abused Book of the Bible will be available via Amazon any day now. Jared Byas and I will be sure to announce it as soon as Amazon lets us know (or you can check periodically yourself). They have had the completed file since Saturday and the turnaround time in usually about 5 days. The print version, along with the latest e-version, contains a study guide for group leaders. So far... Read more
Problem: The 7-day creation story in Genesis 1 reflects outdated ways of thinking of the universe, but modern scientific models of creation have no soul. Solution: Write an updated version of the Genesis story from the vantage point of contemporary science. But is there such a thing? And if so, who is able (and nervy enough) to pull it off? The answer, of course, is Karl Giberson, the author of nine books on science and religion, including Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and... Read more
I think I know more people who are trying to believe in God than people who actually do. Maybe I need to get out more often, or maybe I need to have a less selective group of conversation partners, but this is my experience. You go through your day hoping to catch a glimpse of him, a “God moment” as it were. But more often than not God is a no-show. Up there, out there. Somewhere, just not here. Go... Read more
A couple of weeks ago at Resurrecting Raleigh, David Williams posted on why he doesn’t need Adam to be historical. He begins–and what could be more obvious–by looking at a recent biography on Robert Oppenheimer (physicist working on the Manhattan Project) in which he is compared to Prometheus, the rebellious god who stole fire from Zeus. That gets Williams thinking: the comparison of Oppenheimer to Prometheus is not diminished by virtue of the fact that Prometheus is not a historical figure (unless there are some... Read more
One of my favorite authors is Stephen Lawhead. His novels largely center on medieval themes with a tactful Christian undercurrent. Lawhead weaves together religious and secular themes in a way that forces one to look at the Christian faith outside of familiar language and trappings. His novel Byzantium is set in medieval Ireland and recounts the journeys of a young scribe, Aidan, living in an Irish monastery. He is chosen by the order to accompany some monks to Byzantium to present a gift to the... Read more
The Bible is the book of God for the people of God. It reveals and conceals; is clear, yet complex; open to all, but impossible to master. It is, from beginning to end, a product of the cultures that produced it, and still able to comfort and convict across cultures and across time. It is also a book that tells a grand narrative by means of divergent points of view and different theologies. It tells of God’s acts, but also... Read more
Peter Enns
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