In my course on Genesis this spring at Eastern, we are reading an article by Gary Anderson (Notre Dame), “Joseph and the Passion of Our Lord” (pp. 198-215 in The Art of Reading Scripture). It’s a perfect fit for my class, not only because the article coincides with the Lent/Easter season but because it models how Jesus may be “found” in the Old Testament. I don’t think that Jesus is hiding here and there in a few so-called “messianic prophecies”–and to... Read more
Dear Paul, First of all, thank you for writing so much of the New Testament. Thank you for also teaching inerrancy, not only of the Bible you have (the Old Testament) but of your own letters and those other parts of the New Testament that hadn’t even been written yet! The actual reason for my letter is to ask you to clear up some confusion for me. I’m reading through Romans, and I see that you quote the Old Testament on pretty... Read more
by Jared Byas This week Christians celebrate the crazy idea that God became human. While affirming this in theory, my evangelical upbringing was very uncomfortable with the idea of Human Jesus. We had to admit Jesus was human but that didn’t mean we had to like it. After all, God Jesus is where the magic happens. Human Jesus sometimes muddles the important stuff, takes our eyes off the ball about heaven and whatnot. But here I submit 3 reasons why... Read more
I just came across Daniel Taylor’s 2013 book The Skeptical Believer: Telling Stories to Your Inner Atheist. Many of you are likely familiar with Taylor’s The Myth of Certainty: The Reflective Christian & the Risk of Commitment, first published in 1986. Anyway, I haven’t read all of The Skeptical Believer. For my tastes it’s a bit long (almost 400 pages) for a book with a popular vibe. Still, I’m enjoying it so far (about 80 pages in) and I wanted to share a... Read more
I recently posted, with some commentary, an article published by Stephen L. Young on inerrantist biblical scholars employing “protective strategies” and “privileging insider claims” in their publications. In that article, Young, “examines how Evangelical Christian inerrantist scholars theorize their biblical scholarship and its relation to the broader academy, highlighting (1) their self-representation as true academics, and (2) the ways they modulate historical methods to prefer interpretive options that keep the Bible inerrant.” Young just published a second article illustrating this thesis by focusing on... Read more
by Jared Byas Last week Tony Campolo wrote about his son’s new position as humanist chaplain at the University of Southern California. What was most disheartening for me was this sentence: “Since that Christianity Today article, several of my evangelical friends have quoted Proverbs 22:6, contending that scripture validates the claim that if I had taught my son the right values, he would not have departed from the faith at the age of 51.” Importantly, Tony’s point was that Bart actually... Read more
This one comes from the heart. I’m speaking from my experience here–no polls or surveys, though I know what I say here lines up with those I’ve seen over the years. As is well known, the trend among young people raised in conservative churches is to leave their Bible, and often their faith, behind. In my experience, one big reason (not the only reason) behind this trend has to do with the Bible–maybe not the Bible itself, but how they are... Read more
Here is my third podcast with Luke Norsworthy over at his excellent podcast Newsworthy with Norsworthy. Herein, I pontificate on many subjects, some known to me. Actually I forgot what we discussed until I read Luke’s description on his site: Dr. Peter Enns returns to the show to discuss the Five Words that Define Pete, accepting not always being right, Richard Rohr, Heaven being a lonely place, and being two Petes in one pod with Peter Rollins. I also recall us talking about how this... Read more
Today’s post is part of our continuing yet intermittent “aha” moment series, this from Jared Byas. Byas (BA in Philosophy from Liberty University and an MAR from Westminster Theological Seminary) was in pastoral ministry from 2004 until 2011. He then left to teach Philosophy & Ethics at Grand Canyon University and co-launch MyOhai, a collective of creatives and advisers (that he now runs under the name EMDASH) where he advises individuals and organizations on how to communicate better. In 2012 he co-wrote Genesis... Read more
Stephen L. Young (ABD doctoral student, Brown University, Religions in the Ancient Mediterranean), recently published and article (the first of two) “exposing” inerrantist biblical scholarship: “Protective Strategies and the Prestige of the ‘Academic’: A Religious Studies and Practice Theory Redescription of Evangelical Inerrantist Scholarship.” (the entire article can be accessed here.) “Exposing” is my word, since Young does not employ that rhetoric. In fact, he is quite clinical and…well…scholarly about describing inerrantist scholarship “positively” (as in, assessing it academically) along sociological Study... Read more
Peter Enns
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