“What would Jesus do in the voting booth?” A well-intended adult Sunday School teacher said that years ago, his final summary point intended to drive home the biblical mandate to vote Republican. My friend leaned over and quipped, “He’d probably rend the curtain.” (This is an allusion to the Gospel story where the curtain of the Jewish Temple was rent in two at Jesus’ crucifixion, thus signifying the end of the Jewish sacrificial system. I think this was the last time I got in... Read more
For those of you have have read my blogs over the past year or so, I am about to beat on a familiar drum. And I am going to keep beating it, because I think its a huge point that gets overlooked. Rachel Held Evans’s recent book A Year of Biblical Womanhood has inspired some strong reactions in certain American Christian subcultures. The main point of the book is to critique the phrase “biblical womenhood,” and the expectations of women surrounding this... Read more
In case you haven’t noticed, Rachel Held Evans has a tendency to strike a nerve now and then when she writes. Her blog has become a go-to refuge for disaffected Christians who are journeying outside of familiar theological boundaries and are looking for voices to help them articulate their experiences—or at least to assure them they are not alone. In her first book, Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions, Evans... Read more
I recently spent a weekend in San Francisco. I was asked to come speak for a couple of days to a group of lay leaders about the Bible. I like going to different cities, seeing new places–or at least different places–a chance to get out of my south eastern Pennsylvania rut. I took a taxi. Driving though the city to my hotel, I was struck, as I often am at such moments, by the fact that there are many people... Read more
Followers of Jesus are commanded by him to forgive others, even those…especially those…who have wronged us. He commands us to do so, because, when we forgive, especially those who have wronged us terribly, we are most like God. Forgiveness does not mean that we make believe the injustice never happened, or make light of it. It does not mean we leave ourselves open to abuse. It means we cease harboring ill against the other. We let it go. Forgiveness does... Read more
Every now and then I get asked in a blog comment, an email, or on Facebook, why I bother trying to talk to the hardened Christian right about the Bible. Why not just give up and move on, leaving them to play in their sandbox. Good point. I’ve thought about it a lot, more so in recent months, and here are ten reasons why a part of me is going to keep on doing what I’ve been doing. 1. Fundamentalists are human beings and... Read more
Recently, Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, led a panel discussion called “Revisiting Inerrancy: The Challenges Continue.” He was joined by four of his faculty members: three theologians (Russell Moore, Gregg Allison, Bruce Ware) and one New Testament professor (Denny Burk, from SBTS’s undergraduate feeder school Boyce College). Mohler felt it was their responsibility as “good stewards” of Scripture to speak “truthfully” about the Bible and to have that discussion videotaped for general viewing and edification. Their concern was... Read more
Dr. Daniel Harrington, S.J., professor of New Testament at Boston College recently posted at Huffington Post some reflections on the ancient practice of lectio divina (“divine” or “sacred reading”). This post picks up on Harrington’s chapter in The Bible and the Believer: How to Read the Bible Critically and Religiously co-author with me and Marc Brettler (Brandeis University) and published last month by Oxford University Press. Lectio divina is an ancient Roman Catholic monastic pattern of reading Scripture, the goal of which... Read more
I just noticed that the link to John Piper’s post “How Could God Kill Women and Children?” is now dead–and I do not wish to dwell on the irony of it. Some of you may remember that I posted about Piper’s thoughts on Canaanite genocide during the summer, first here, with two follow up posts here and here. The gist of Piper’s argument with which I took issue is summarized in his opening line: “It’s right for God to slaughter... Read more
In yesterday’s Atlantic, a story appeared about a letter Albert Einstein wrote, now up for auction, wherein he expressed himself on his religious beliefs. To summarize: God as a super mind behind the universe, thumbs up; the Bible, well… not so much. The bidding started at $3,000,000 (or roughly what Alex Rodriguez makes hitting .133 in an average postseason, but I digress). The author of the article, Rebecca J. Rosen, offers the following as a key passage: The word God is for... Read more
Peter Enns
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