The BIble ≠ The Gospel (and why that’s important).

Last updated on: March 9, 2012 at 9:56 am By Peter Enns

On our GospelFutures website, my friend an co-laborer theologian Neil Williams is adding to his series on relational transformation with a couple more posts. This next post is titled Why story? and addresses reasons why we need to make a distinction between the biblical text and the gospel story. He argues that the text is a testimony to a greater reality, and recognizing this fact is necessary for transformation and engagement with today’s world—from opposing the marginalization of women to... Read more

Kent Sparks and Our Sacred, Broken Bible

Last updated on: March 8, 2012 at 12:12 pm By Peter Enns

Kent Sparks (professor of biblical studies and interim provost at Eastern University) has a new book due out in May, Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture (Eerdmans). He has posted a teaser on the publisher’s blog, giving a rationale for writing this kind of book. He says that theological intransigence and intolerance among Christians (not against Christians) is the true culprit for stifling the gospel and feeding the process of secularization. He ends his comments as follows: My... Read more

Guest Post: Inerrancy at the Evangelical Theological Society

Last updated on: March 17, 2012 at 2:32 am By Peter Enns

Carlos Bovell has written three previous posts here over the last week (1, 2, 3–click any of these for his bio and publications). Today’s post recounts his recent experience at the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) which holds yearly national academic conferences in November and regional conferences in March. Just in case any of you thought I was just making all this up…. This past Friday (March 2, 2012), I gave a talk at the meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society—Eastern Region.... Read more

Guest Post: Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear

Last updated on: March 5, 2012 at 9:26 am By Peter Enns

Today’s guest post by Carlos Bovell, his third, is an edited excerpt from chapter 4 of his upcoming book Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear (Wipf & Stock, 2012). Carlos is becoming a leading critic of the evangelical notion of biblical inerrancy, but unlike other such critiques, his is not the rant of an outsider, but the careful, nuanced, and compelling observations of one coming from within an evangelical paradigm, drawing on his own experience. His main concern is... Read more

Two Upcoming Speaking Events in April

Last updated on: March 3, 2012 at 9:50 am By Peter Enns

On April 12, I will be at NC State speaking and participating in a panel discussion on the topic of—stop me if you’ve heard this one–Adam and Evolution. Click conference flyer for more information. Speaking also will be Dr. Sujin Pak, assistant professor of church history at Duke Divinity School, on how Genesis 1 and 2 have been interpreted in church history, and Dr. Greg Reeves, assistant professor of chemical and bio-molecular engineering at NC State, who will give his... Read more

Guest Post: We Believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Scriptures

Last updated on: March 2, 2012 at 3:18 pm By Peter Enns

Today we have a second guest post from Carlos Bovell. Carlos is becoming a leading critic of the evangelical notion of biblical inerrancy, but unlike other such critiques, his is not the rant of an outsider, but the careful, nuanced, and compelling observations of one coming from within an evangelical paradigm, drawing on his own experience. His main concern is not simply the intellectual difficulties of this theological position, but the spiritual destruction that occurs in the lives of young... Read more

Guest Post: The Culture of Biblical Inerrantism

Last updated on: March 1, 2012 at 8:20 pm By Peter Enns

Today and tomorrow we have guest posts by Carlos Bovell. Carlos is becoming a leading critic of the evangelical notion of biblical inerrancy, but unlike other such critiques, his is not the rant of an outsider, but the careful, nuanced, and compelling observations of one coming from within an evangelical paradigm, drawing on his own experience. His main concern is not simply the intellectual difficulties of this theological position, but the spiritual destruction that occurs in the lives of young... Read more

Telling God’s Story, Grade 2, Is Out and About, I’m Told

Last updated on: February 20, 2012 at 6:20 pm By Peter Enns

Grade 2 of my children’s Bible Curriculum Telling God’s Story is out, or nearly so, the proof of which I offer in the colorful photo above–a sort of first fruit of the harvest, guaranteeing what is to come (if I may paraphrase the Apostle Paul). You can take a gander at the table of contents. Olive Branch Books also has a blog for the curriculum. The main website has some other information and FAQs. So far, the reception of the curriculum has... Read more

Video #3 on The Evolution of Adam.

Last updated on: February 21, 2012 at 9:38 pm By Peter Enns

Thoughts on Kevin DeYoung’s Restless Comments on the Historical Adam

Last updated on: February 14, 2012 at 6:57 am By Peter Enns

When I read Kevin DeYoung’s post last week on 10 reasons to believe in a historical Adam, I was initially inclined to shrug and let it go. It’s a big world filled with all sorts of opinions, and there’s no need to reach for my laptop whenever I read something disagreeable. (See cartoon to the left.) I also don’t want to be misunderstood as piling on a Christian brother, since biblical scholar and blogger James had already offered a brief... Read more