Documented Evidence from SBL: The Job Market for Professors is, How We Say in Academia, Majorly Horribly Bad

Last updated on: June 21, 2012 at 4:38 pm By Peter Enns

Below is a letter from Dr. John Kutsko, Executive Director of the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL), the organization that oversees international, national, and regional academic meetings for scholars in Biblical Studies and related fields. All members of SBL received this letter, and I applaud Kutsko for his transparency and commitment to being a resource. (FYI, Kutsko is one of the editors of the The SBL Handbook of Style ). As you can see, the news is horrible. Here is the relevant portion of... Read more

Guest Post: Lament for a Maternal Home (or, Is There No Place for Believing Criticism in Evangelicalism?)

Last updated on: June 20, 2012 at 9:45 am By Peter Enns

Today’s post–or better, testimonial–is by Dr. David Lincicum, Lecturer in New Testament Studies at Oxford University. His research interests include Pauline theology and exegesis, the Jewish milieu of early Christianity, and the theological interpretation of Scripture. He is the author of Paul & the Early Jewish Encounter With Deuteronomy, which is published by the prestigious academic publisher Mohr Siebeck in the series Wissenschafliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament (and costs about as much as a month’s rent for a small studio... Read more

Some Unasked for Advice on Whether an Evangelical Should Get a PhD in Biblical Studies

Last updated on: June 19, 2012 at 9:38 am By Peter Enns

I’ve been fielding this question for 20 years, and my answer today is not what I was saying early on. Let’s be practical, shall we? Here is my bottom line: Unless you can honestly say to yourself that you can’t imagine not getting a PhD in Biblical Studies, don’t do it. The financial and personal challenges you go through in pursuing your degree–not to mention the job market once you enter it–will be unbearable unless you have a genuine, authentic,... Read more

C. S. Lewis on Evolution: It’s Sort of a British Thing

Last updated on: June 13, 2012 at 10:44 am By Peter Enns

Yesterday’s post by David Williams takes a look at C. S. Lewis and what he had to say about evolution. Those familiar with Lewis’s writings will already be on board, though David points out a some things I think many will be interested in. David’s post illustrates something I have come across on my own in interactions with Evangelicals over evolution: The Brits may talk funny and wrap their fried fish in newspaper, but they tend to be more chill when it... Read more

A Recent Book on the Bible You Really Oughta Read

Last updated on: June 12, 2012 at 9:02 am By Peter Enns

I just read The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us (HarperOne, November 2011) by Douglas A. Knight and Amy-Jill Levine, both of Vanderbilt University. I think it is a great resource for students of the Bible, I want to recommend it wholeheartedly. Running about 450 pages, this book is best described as a balanced, succinct, and readable introduction to reading the Bible rooted in the broader historical-critical academic conversation, while also helping... Read more

Pete at Pastorum

Last updated on: June 11, 2012 at 3:04 pm By Peter Enns

Over at Internet Monk, Chaplain Mike has several posts (June 7 back to June 4) reviewing a conference I just got back from in Chicago called Pastorum. The conference was organized by Logos Bible Software. Twenty-one biblical scholars were asked to come and boil some things down for pastors and others who attended. We each had a 30 minute slot (though, true to form for academics, we treated the time limit as a vague suggestion). So that you don’t lose sleep about it or... Read more

Guest Post: The Story’s Story

Last updated on: June 8, 2012 at 11:49 am By Peter Enns

Today’s guest post is the second of two by J. R. Daniel Kirk, assistant professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary who blogs over at Storied Theology. Daniel is the author of Unlocking Romans and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? Here he continues his thoughts on why the Bible should be read as story, not a theological textbook–even if narrative readings are risky. In my previous post, I started reflecting on the Bible as “story,” and what difference that might make for how we... Read more

Guest Post: Why Getting the Bible Right is Critical for Our Faith

Last updated on: June 7, 2012 at 6:10 pm By Peter Enns

Today’s post is by J. R. Daniel Kirk, assistant professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary who blogs over at Storied Theology. Daniel is very smart, as you can tell by the fact that he has two whole initials in front of his first name; one name cannot contain him. He has also written two majorly awesome books, Unlocking Romans and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? Daniel is also a good friend who writes clearly and provocatively about Jesus. Today is... Read more

Don’t be a “The Sky is Falling” Christian

Last updated on: June 5, 2012 at 5:18 pm By Peter Enns

David Williams posted his final post in his Credo series, this one on the resurrection of Christ. David’s point: resurrection is the heart of the gospel; everything else take a back seat. Even things we might think are non-negotiable. Here is a sample: I am always amazed at how quick we often are to sound the “The Gospel is at Stake” alarm. We evangelicals sometimes act like a flock of Chicken Littles, running around like we’ve lost our heads squawking, “The... Read more

Was John Calvin a Closet, Wolf-in-Sheep’s-Clothing, Liberal Gospel Higher Critic?

Last updated on: May 31, 2012 at 10:00 am By Peter Enns

Now that I’ve got your attention, David Williams has a great post on John Calvin and how he looked at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and the parallel account in Luke 6, the Sermon on the Plain. Apparently, Calvin had no patience–zero–with those who argued that these are two separate intact speeches given by Jesus and faithfully recorded by the Gospel writers. Rather, they were collections of Jesus-sayings that the Gospel writers brought together to “create” a... Read more