inerrancy, historical criticism, and the slippery slope

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:31 am By Peter Enns

In today’s post, Carlos Bovell suggests a visual metaphor that moves beyond the slippery slope, either/or thinking common among inerrantists. Bovell, a frequent contributor to this blog, is a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary and The Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto. He is the author of Inerrancy and the Spiritual Formation of Younger Evangelicals (2007), By Good and Necessary Consequence: A Preliminary Genealogy of Biblical Foundationalism (2009), an edited volume, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Authority of Scripture (2011), and Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear (2012). ******** It’s very hard... Read more

the gospel, the blues, and a world gone wrong

Last updated on: December 5, 2014 at 7:07 am By Peter Enns

Today’s post is an interview with Gary Burnett (PhD), author of The Gospel According to the Blues. Burnett is a man of diverse talents. He is an honorary lecturer in New Testament in the Institute of Theology at Queens University Belfast (where he teaches New Testament and New Testament Greek), a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and with a parallel career in the software industry, he also runs a high tech business consultancy. He takes a keen interest in development work... Read more

10 New Testament passages that shape how I think about God

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:33 am By Peter Enns

1. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his suffering by becoming like him in his death… (Phil 3:10). Both suffering and resurrection—times of great difficulty and times of triumph—are expected and normal parts of the Christian life. 2. …unless you change and become like children… (Matt 18:3). As children trust their parents with no thought of an alternative, Christians are called to trust God—which is both comforting and challenging. 3. …do... Read more

biblical violence and reading the Bible like Jesus did

Last updated on: December 3, 2014 at 9:11 am By Peter Enns

Today’s post is an interview with Derek Flood, author of Disarming Scripture: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives, and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did, which has just been released this week. The book deals with the problem of violence in Scripture, tackling a wide range of troubling passages—from commands to commit genocide and infanticide in the Old Testament to passages in the New Testament that have been used to justify slavery, child abuse, and... Read more

God likes stories, and science agrees

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:34 am By Peter Enns

In The Bible Tells Me So, I have a section called “Stories Work,” which is my conclusion to chapter 3, “God Likes Stories.” The writers of the biblical narratives were storytellers. They recalled the past “often the very distant past, not ‘objectively,’ but purposefully. They had skin in the game. These were their stories. They wove narratives of the past to give meaning to their present–to persuade, motivate, and inspire.” (pp. 75-76) Stories work. Stories are powerful. Stories move us deeply, more so... Read more

10 Old Testament passages that shape how I think about God

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:34 am By Peter Enns

1. …for the Lord does not see as people see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). God is not impressed with what we call success but with what is deep within us, perhaps even deeper than we ourselves can see. 2. Besides being wise, Qoheleth also taught the people knowledge…(Ecclesiastes 12:9). After Qoheleth complains for 11 chapters about the futility of life and how ultimately God is to blame, the... Read more

St. Nicholas: what can I say, he was a beast

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:35 am By Peter Enns

In church today, our rector handed out a card with a icon of St. Nicholas, similar to the one on the left. On the back of the card read the following: Nicholas was born in the 3rd century in Asia Minor. He used his entire inheritance to help the poor, sick, and children in need. He gave in secret, expecting nothing in return. He attended the Council of Nicea in AD 325. Greatly loved for his faith, compassion and care, he is venerated in both... Read more

is there payoff for the church in reading the Bible critically?

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:36 am By Peter Enns

At this year’s annual “help me I’m wearing tweed in San Diego” conference (a.k.a. Society of Biblical Literature) I was part of a panel discussion on “Reading the Bible in the 21st Century: Exploring New Models for Reconciling the Academy and the Church.” On the panel with me were N. T. Wright, Barbara Brown Taylor, and Lauren Winner. John Dominic Crossan was scheduled to be there but his flight was delayed. At any rate, we were each given 10 minutes... Read more

what would the apostle Paul think about evangelicals and the conflict in Palestine?

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 8:36 am By Peter Enns

It is for this reason that Paul would have scratched his head over the current Evangelical fascination with the modern secular state of Israel and its supposedly Bible-mandated right to do what it pleases with Palestine and its inhabitants. This way of reading the Bible misses the whole point of the story; it robs the biblical narrative of its climax. Stephen Taylor, associate professor of New Testament at Biblical Theological Seminary, has written a very thoughtful piece on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict... Read more

does an inerrantist culture “do good or do harm”?

Last updated on: November 18, 2014 at 11:42 am By Peter Enns

Today’s guest post is by Carlos Bovell, a frequent contributor to this blog. Bovell is a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary and The Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto. He is the author of Inerrancy and the Spiritual Formation of Younger Evangelicals (2007), By Good and Necessary Consequence: A Preliminary Genealogy of Biblical Foundationalism (2009), an edited volume, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Authority of Scripture (2011), and Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear (2012). ******** In Mark 3:4, Jesus poses a very interesting question to the man with the withered hand:... Read more