Is Kent Sparks a Renegade When it Comes to the Bible? Nah, not Really.

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 11:39 am By Peter Enns

In chapter 6 of Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture, Sparks makes the following point: what he says about the Bible is not all that different from what others have said in the history of the church, even if he puts things his own way and applies them to different issues. Citing John Wesley, “if the literal sense of these Scriptures is absurd, and apparently contrary to reason, then we should be obliged not to interpret than according to the letter, but to... Read more

“The Bible is Diverse Because Life Is”: Rachel Held Evans Continues her Review of “Inspiration and Incarnation”

Last updated on: July 24, 2012 at 9:37 pm By Peter Enns

Yesterday Rachel continued her discussion of my book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament (Baker, 2005). Here she focuses on chapter 3, “The Old Testament and Theological Diversity.” Rachel has done a great job getting to the heart of my book, understanding it, and explaining it to others. If you want a good, quick, overview of the book, Rachel’s reviews are a great place to start. The main thing I am trying to get across in this chapter... Read more

“God Lets His Children Tell the Story”: An Angle on God’s Violence in the Old Testament

Last updated on: July 24, 2012 at 5:16 pm By Peter Enns

My seminary Hebrew professor, former colleague, and friend, Al Groves, who is of blessed memory, was a wonderful, honest, and pastoral man. When dealing with the theological difficulties that arise in the course of reading the Bible, Al would say, “God lets his children tell the story.” That is a great way of putting it. The Bible is what happens when God allows his children to tell his story–which means the biblical writers told the story from their point of... Read more

Scripture is not Perfect: More from Kent Sparks and “Sacred Word, Broken Word”

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 11:41 am By Peter Enns

Today we look at chapter 5 of Kent Sparks’s Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture. Sparks is professor of Old Testament and interim provost at Eastern University, St. Davids PA. The first post of the series can be found here. The chapter is entitled “The Brokenness of Scripture,” and in it Sparks further clarifies ideas he has been developing since the beginning of the book. Following his remarks on God’s violence in chapter 4, Sparks... Read more

“Genesis for Normal People” coming out in Print with Leader Guide.

Last updated on: July 23, 2012 at 11:42 am By Peter Enns

Sometime in the next few weeks, Genesis for Normal People: A Guide to the Most Controversial, Misunderstood, and Abused Book of the Bible will be released in print form and available through Amazon. Many of our readers (who apparently live in the Stone Age with no internet connection) were asking for a print version, and Patheos has come through big-time. We will announce the exact date it is available as soon as we know it. Also, co-author Jared Byas and I have written a leader guide for... Read more

Children and Virgins as Spoils of War and the Character of God

Last updated on: July 19, 2012 at 4:22 pm By Peter Enns

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that, if the temperature broke here in Philly, I would follow up with a post that looks at some passages that will help us feel the full weight of the issue of Canaanite genocide in the Old Testament. Well, it won’t get out of the the 80s today, so, here you go. First, let me say again that I appreciate the discussion thus far, pro and con. It’s a tough issue that can certainly benefit... Read more

More on Canaanite Genocide, or Taking a Step Back Because What We Have Here is a Communication Problem

Last updated on: July 19, 2012 at 3:38 pm By Peter Enns

I appreciate the many thoughtful responses, both pro and con, to my post on John Piper and his view on Canaanite genocide and his view that, “It’s right for God to slaughter women and children anytime he pleases.” I will say, however, that, although some pushback comments were very insightful and brought to the table issues of importance, a number of them were implicitly working from a false, though common, dichotomy: pitting against each other (1) engagement of Scripture informed by what we know of... Read more

John Piper on Why “It’s Right for God to Slaughter Women and Children Anytime He Pleases” and Why I Have Some Major Problems with That

Last updated on: September 8, 2014 at 4:10 pm By Peter Enns

Author and pastor John Piper, in a relatively recent interview on his website Desiring God: God-Centered Resources from the Ministry of John Piper, discusses the vexing problem of God ordering the mass killing of every Canaanite man, woman, and child. Here is the opening quote. “It’s right for God to slaughter women and children anytime he pleases. God gives life and he takes life. Everybody who dies, dies because God wills that they die.” Words fail me. Apparently, Piper sees no problem. What’s... Read more

Interview with Yours Truly at The Discarded Image

Last updated on: July 16, 2012 at 9:10 am By Peter Enns

Blogger, professor, and church historian Brandon Withrow just posted an interview with me at his site The Discarded Image. In that interview I make several rash, unguarded, and embarrassing comments that you will probably want to take note of. All kidding aside (I was kidding, right?), Brandon’s website is thoughtful and a good read. I hope you spend some time checking it out. Read more

Evangelicals Critiquing other Evangelicals for Shoddy Scholarship

Last updated on: July 14, 2012 at 12:49 pm By Peter Enns

Over on his blog Brick by Brick, David Williams is engaging a great question: Should evangelicals expend so much energy critiquing other evangelicals or should they focus more on defending the faith against movements hostile to Christianity, like secularism or scientism? I think that’s a great question, one I ask myself periodically. Williams has given this issue serious thought and has concluded that critiquing evangelicalism remains an important task, because, “there are a number of Evangelical intellectual habits and material positions that are serious liabilities... Read more