Is it Possible for Christian Institutions to be Followers of Jesus? (Don’t rush me, I’m thinking)

Last updated on: September 9, 2012 at 12:16 pm By Peter Enns

This past Friday, Dr. Harold Heie (pronounced “high”) spoke to the Eastern University community on “Creating a Welcoming Space for Respectful Conversation about Controversial Issues” (part of the Windows on the World series). The auditorium was overflowing. Heie is known for finding ways for Christians to talk about difficult topics. In fact he has an entire website dedicated to the effort, respectfulconversation.net. He has also written about the subject, most profoundly in Learning to Listen, Ready to Talk: A Pilgrimage Toward Peacemaking.... Read more

Hunting for Good News: More from GospelFutures

Last updated on: September 8, 2012 at 5:22 pm By Peter Enns

Over at GospelFutures, Peter Kress is on a hunt for the Gospel. Which raises the natural question, “What the heck are you talking about?” Kress explains that, having experienced his own faith crisis, a Gospel that encourages skepticism toward others is not good news. “When faith communities define rules of inclusion and exclusion and allocate privileges based on those rules, compassion is compromised.” Further, the Gospel is somewhere between the two common extremes of an “absolutely knowable” commodity owned by... Read more

Rachel Held Evans Reviews Chapter 4 of “Inspiration and Incarnation”

Last updated on: September 5, 2012 at 10:32 pm By Peter Enns

Rachel Held Evans just posted her thoughts on chapter 4 of my book Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. The chapter deals with the unexpected–even troubling–way the New Testament writers use the Old Testament in their proclamation of the gospel. The bottom-line point I make in that chapter is this: the writers of the New Testament did not think of their Bible the way many readers of the Bible do today. Whether trained scholars or everyday lay readers,... Read more

Are Christian Fundamentalists actually Polytheists?

Last updated on: September 3, 2012 at 4:10 pm By Peter Enns

I came across this quote recently from James A. Sanders, Old Testament scholar, translater and editor of the Psalm Scroll (Dead Sea Scrolls), and former professor (retired) from Claremont School of Theology Another form of idolatry or polytheism that has emerged in Western Christianity in reaction, in part, to Enlightenment study of the Bible, and that needs also to be eschewed, is that of bibliolatry – viewing the Bible as somehow divine. God is divine, not the Bible! Hard-core fundamentalism... Read more

Are All Critical Biblical Scholars Godless Atheists Conspiring to Undermine Your Faith?

Last updated on: August 31, 2012 at 12:24 pm By Peter Enns

Glad you asked. I say no, as do Marc Brettler (Brandeis University) and Dan Harrington (Boston College). Together we wrote a book that looks at how faith and critical biblical scholarship can co-exist. The Bible and the Believer: How to Read the Bible Critically and Religiously. It can now be ordered on Amazon This book originated in a symposium sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania on October 25, 2010. The topic was “The Challenge of Reading the Bible Today:... Read more

Is Christianity a Tribalistic Religion? Sort of looks that way.

Last updated on: August 31, 2012 at 7:05 am By Peter Enns

At GospelFutures, Neil Williams continues his posts on the gospel and relational transformation by asking Does Christianity promote tribalism? Note Williams doesn’t ask whether Jesus or the New Testament promote tribalism. They don’t. He is asking whether Christianity does. The answer seems to be “yes” Note, too, what Williams means by “tribalism”: not any claim to exclusivism, but an exclusive mentality that leads to indignation, shunning, meanness, oppression, violence, and even murder. The great irony of the history of Christianity is its own history... Read more

Good News: King Jesus is in the House

Last updated on: August 30, 2012 at 10:14 am By Peter Enns

Recently, David Williams posted his next piece in his series “What is the Gospel?” My comments and links to William’s previous posts on this topic are here and here. I sense that some readers still feel that Williams is asking a dumb question. “What is the gospel? It’s about how you get saved, silly.” What Williams is saying, in a nutshell, is that “getting saved” (typically understood by many in a personal sense of going to heaven after you die) is... Read more

Rethinking Sin and Heretics? Neil Williams Says “Yes”

Last updated on: August 29, 2012 at 9:32 am By Peter Enns

Read before you judge….. Over at GospelFutures, Williams suggests thinking of sin as “relational failure.” Sure, this is not exactly how Christians have thought of sin in the past, but, “Sin has a varied history. The way people have understood sin has changed over time. Views on sin have morphed according to the culture and what made sense at that time.” Seeing sin as relational failure, Williams says, “…exposes a legal understanding of sin as inadequate. It is quite easy to... Read more

“Genesis for Normal People” Coming out in Real Live Book Form Very, Very Soon (like really soon)

Last updated on: August 29, 2012 at 9:14 am By Peter Enns

Herewith is the official announcement that Genesis for Normal People: A Guide to the Most Controversial, Misunderstood, and Abused Book of the Bible, which now includes a study guide for group leaders, will be available in print through Amazon by the end of September, and likely earlier. We are currently working on some final printing issues, and once that is taken care of, we will be good to go. In the meantime, please remain as calm as possible–perhaps draw up a... Read more

Getting the Bible Right is Not Just About Getting the Bible Right (on therapy, recycling, loving your neighbor, and realizing you are not God)

Last updated on: August 29, 2012 at 8:46 am By Peter Enns

Today we continue our series of posts on Kenton Sparks’s wonderful little book, Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture. My first post is here and my most recent is here. Sparks is professor of Old Testament and provost at Eastern University, and the author of God’s Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship, Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature, The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography, and... Read more