The controversial Bible scholar and author of The Evolution of Adam recounts his transformative spiritual journey in which he discovered a new, more honest way to love and appreciate God's Word.
Trained as an evangelical Bible scholar, Peter Enns loved the Scriptures and shared his devotion, teaching at Westminster Theological Seminary. But the further he studied the Bible, the more he found himself confronted by questions that could neither be answered within the rigid framework of his religious instruction or accepted among the conservative evangelical community.
Rejecting the increasingly complicated intellectual games used by conservative Christians to "protect" the Bible, Enns was conflicted. Is this what God really requires? How could God's plan for divine inspiration mean ignoring what is really written in the Bible? These questions eventually cost Enns his job--but they also opened a new spiritual path for him to follow.
The Bible Tells Me So chronicles Enns's spiritual odyssey, how he came to see beyond restrictive doctrine and learned to embrace God's Word as it is actually written. As he explores questions progressive evangelical readers of Scripture commonly face yet fear voicing, Enns reveals that they are the very questions that God wants us to consider--the essence of our spiritual study.
Table of Contents:
Author's Note --
Chapter 1. I'll Take Door Number Three -- When the Bible Doesn't Behave -- The Bible Isn't the Problem -- My Life, in Brief, and Such as It Is -- Concerning Camels' Backs and Beach Balls -- Door Number Three -- So What's My Point? --
Chapter 2. God Did What?! -- How Not to Treat Other People -- Those Wicked, Horrible Canaanites -- Marching Orders -- If Jesus Sends People to Hell, What's So Bad About Killing Some Canaanites -- God's Nicer Side -- Worst, Sinners, Ever -- It's a Tribal Culture Thing -- Digging for Answers -- God Lets His Children Tell the Story -- Why This Chapter Is So Important and So Dreadfully Long --
Chapter 3. God Likes Stories -- What Happened? -- The Stories of Jesus -- Little Baby Jesuses -- Who Saw the Big Moment? -- The Stories of Israel -- The Past Serves the Present -- A Warm-Up for the Main Event -- A Sneak Peek at the Political Map -- Playing Favorites with Little Brother -- Adam, Who Art Thou? -- The Exodus Story -- When Gods Fight -- What's with All the Water? -- Stories Work --
Chapter 4. Why Doesn't God Make Up His Mind? -- Raising Kids by the Book (FYI, It Doesn't Work) -- If I Wanted to Tell You What to Do, I Would Have-God -- When Biblical Writers Get Cranky -- Don't Quote the Bible at Me, Please. I'm God.--God, to Job and His Friends -- Is There More Than One God? (And, No, This Isn't a Trick Question) -- God Seems Like a Regular Joe -- God Lays Down the Law...Sort of --
Chapter 5. Jesus Is Bigger Than the Bible -- Jesus Gets a Big Fat F in Bible -- Jesus Was Actually Jewish (Go Figure) -- Jesus Messes with the Bible -- Jesus: Moses 2.0 -- Jesus Picks Fights -- Jesus Was a Human Being --
Chapter 6. No One Saw This Coming -- I Could Tell You But You Wouldn't Understand -- Good News! Our Leader Was Executed by the Romans! Come Join Us! -- It's All About Me.-Jesus (According to Luke and Matthew) -- Are We There Yet? -- Jesus, Savior of the World -- God's Answer to a Question No One Was Asking -- Torah? Oh That. It Was Only Temporary.-God (As Told to Paul) -- Why Don't You Just Go Castrate Yourself, and Other Spiritual Advice --
Chapter 7. The Bible, Just as It Is -- For Those on the Go, the Entire Book in Exactly 265 Words (With Brief Commentary) -- A Quick Thought About the Universe and God Laughing -- Not That I'm Trying to Tell You What to Do, But... -- Where in the Bible Were We? (In Order of Appearance) -- Some Dates I Keep Referring To (And a Few Others) -- In Case You Don't Believe Me and Want to Read More --
Acknowledgments.
"In The Bible Tells Me So, Peter Enns addresses the problems of scripture form the position of an evangelical Christian who observes with candor and fresh humor that too often faithful readers approach the Bible with expectations it is not set up to meet." -- Publishers Weekly
"Peter Enns has written a great book about The Book. If you've ever struggled with the violent or contradictory or just plain strange passages in the Bible, this book is for you . . . And he's funny." -- Rob Bell, author of Love Wins
"Cross a stand-up comic, a robust theological mind, a college professor, and a decent normal guy, and what do you get? Peter Enns. And what does he write? A super-enjoyable, highly informative, disarmingly honest, and downright liberating book. The message of this book needs to get out. Fast." -- Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity
"The question of how to read, inwardly digest, and eventually 'live' the Bible is probably the most divisive one among Christians today. This is a book that every Christian will be the better and richer for having read." -- Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
"Peter Enns has emerged as one of the stars of biblical interpretation for thinking Christians. With writing that is winsome, readable, and non-intimidating, he cuts a path between wooden literalism and faithless liberalism, giving us a way to read the Bible that is both faithful and intellectually credible." -- Tony Jones, theologian-in-residence at Solomon's Porch and the author of Did God Kill Jesus?
Peter Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. David's, Pennsylvania. He has also taught courses at Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the host of The Bible for Normal People podcast, a frequent contributor to journals and encyclopedias, and the author of several books, including The Sin of Certainty, The Bible Tells Me So, and Inspiration and Incarnation. He lives in northern New Jersey.
HarperOne
Pub Date: September 15, 2015
0.7" H x 8.0" L x 5.3" W
288 Pages
Paperback