And he concluded that the problem is not with the Bible per se. But rather than repudiate the Bible or compartamentalize the problem in order to maintain the traditional course, he decided to re-evaluate his expectations. This revelation initiated a crisis in Enns’ life. (18) In other words, far from the B-I-B-L-E revelation downloaded from heaven, the Bible began to appear distressingly ordinary. To accept that Paul, author of a large chunk of the New Testament, endorsed a bizarre belief which was the product of his age seemed to Enns to strip the Bible of “its designer power suit” and replace it “with off-the-rack sweatpants from Marshalls”.

But to Enns, the effect of that revelation was earth-shaking. 10:4 when he claimed that this rock was Christ. To some Christians this might have been little more than a curious piece of trivia. Then the professor observed that the Apostle Paul appealed to this absurd rabbinic theory in 1 Cor. It is also borne of his own past existential struggles, and it is with these that he begins the book.Įnns’ account of wrestling with the Bible culminates in a moment during his PhD when he recalls listening to a Jewish professor describe how some rabbis in the second century before Christ had hypothesized that a water-giving rock had followed the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness like a giant, portable water fountain. But Enns’ ability to speak into this situation is not merely a matter of his CV. Either way, it ain’t a pretty picture.Įnns offers another response in his new book The Bible Tells Me So. And as a respected biblical scholar and blogger extraordinaire, he is well suited to the task. Others weather the storm with a dose of cognitive dissonance and compartamentalization. Some have emerged with a shattered faith (I speak with these folks regularly through my blog). As Peter Enns puts it, “this rulebook view of the Bible is like a knockoff Chanel handbag–fine as long as it’s kept at a distance, away from curious and probing eyes.” (4)īut take a closer look at the difficulties and you might find yourself joining the countless Christians who have faced the dark night of the soul as a result. Enter Peter Enns…Įxcept that picture doesn’t reflect the reality. Now that was a text on which one could stand. The Bible was God’s inerrant revelation to mankind, relayed to the human stenographers word for word with the same immediacy and certainty as the Ten Commandments were given to Moses. The result is that every matter the text addresses - history, ethics, science, and of course theology - were a symphony of harmony, preserved from any hint of error.

Like many Christians raised in the church, I grew up singing “The B-I-B-L-E Song” in Sunday school:īack then life seemed so simple. The Bible Tells Me So… Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It.

The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns