Hi everyone, Here is the link to today’s post at my new website. It’s about following Jesus. And speaking of following, this is my last post here at Patheos. I hope you will continue to follow me over at The Bible for Normal People. Thanks again to the Patheos team for all they do. And thanks to Jared Byas and Jesce Walz for making this transition possible. Pete Read more
C’mon over and see today’s post on my new website… Pete Read more
Hi folks. My new website, The Bible for Normal People (peteenns.com) is officially launched!! Come on over and have a look around, and be sure to take a look at my inaugural welcome post. Pete Read more
I’m not a big fan of Christian apologetics. Nothing personal, and I know some smart people who engage in it. It’s just not for me. I’ve never seen an argument for why Christianity is true that can’t be met by some alternative argument. And I am not interested in whether Christianity is “reasonable”–a lot of things are reasonable and I don’t center my life around them. Nor am I interested in whether Christianity is probable or possible–a lot of things are... Read more
I bet you thought I was going to talk about my book The Evolution of Adam. Fooled you. ******** I’ve been around this block for a few years now. Generally speaking, the debate over the compatibility of evolution and Christianity, especially among evangelicals, lacks the input of scientists who not only practice their discipline but who have thought deeply and reflectively about the theological and hermeneutical implications of what they do. Such participants would be able to speak clearly and effectively about... Read more
Last week I read a little book by New Testament scholar Raymond E. Brown Jesus: God and Man. It’s a short little book, 2 chapters in fact, each of which first appeared in journals in the mid-1960s, about the time I was going to first grade with my Monkees lunch box. In the first chapter, Brown looks at whether the New Testament calls Jesus God, and what that even means. I’ll try to get back to that at some point.... Read more
I recently sat down with King Solomon, and he was kind enough to share some thoughts with me about the power of words–whether spoken or typed. Although he himself personally has never blogged, he does try to keep up with the blogosphere, and he’s formed some opinions on how people speak to each other of Yahweh. Me: So King Solomon, what are you thinking? King Solomon: This. Doing wrong is like sport to a fool, but wise conduct is... Read more
Dear Readers, Sometime in the next week or two, I will be leaving Patheos and moving my blog to an independent site, The Bible for Normal People (peteenns.com). Although I will miss Patheos–which has been nothing but an encouraging and supportive host for my blog for the past 4 years–I am very excited about this development. I’ll continue blogging here until the launch date, and I will announce the exact date as soon as it is firmed up. I’m looking... Read more
The quote below is from an article by German Old Testament scholar Konrad Schmid, “What Is the Difference Between Historical and Theological Exegesis?” pp. 2-3 (my paragraph formatting; available here). The article looks at an important and perennial issue in Christian theology: the always complex and often tense relationship between the historical study of scripture and scripture as the source of Christian theology. One can reasonably argue that the establishment of historical-critical biblical scholarship—despite individual statements to the contrary—is an incomparable success story within theology. Protestant theological faculties and... Read more
Recently, Peter Leithart expressed in satire his deep misgivings about the practice of historical criticism. His bottom line seems to be that historical criticism of the Bible is a big, big, big mistake. He really, really, really doesn’t think much of it. Not much at all. I hope I’ve read Leithart accurately here. Truth be told, after several readings of his post, I was still not entirely sure where satire gave way to direct critique. But Leithart’s feelings about historical criticism are not hard... Read more
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