Mysticsare . What should be the impact? It goes without saying that the writings you mentioned can contain interesting concepts, but they do not reveal the God of the universe anymore than an Agatha Christy mystery, which I dearly enjoy. As I see it, knowledge ofGod accesses different ways of knowing. While the truth of non-material claims can not be measured, the effects of the beliefs in them can be considered and studied. And there is no one way to come to belief or faith in God, and in Christ our Savior. The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible does and doesn't say about human origins Jonathan Jong 2012, Theology and Science Abstract In this review, I summarize and critically evaluate Peter Enns's claim that evangelicals ought not read Genesis 13 literally. Matthew 13:52. I get asked now and then, Pete, youre a reasonably intelligent guy, with a Ph.D. and everything. Wonder of breathing and wonder of stars and wonder of babies are indeed wonders. Robert Anton Wilson pointed out how many people cling tightly to a single reality tunnel and dont dare to seek all the ways their tunnel overlaps with that of others. In passing, he also makes a very interesting observation about contemporary Protestant theology: "I live in an ecclesial world in which those who value Christian orthodoxy as a concept seem invariably to drift towards either Rome or Constantinople or some amalgamation of the two which is represented by no existing church. I think the answer is bringing up the conversations more and trying to find what we have in common with each other. An Atheist that believes in God. Thankfully it is much less today. He has taught courses at several other institutions including Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Peter K. Enns. In Roman Catholicism, Peter is seen as the first vicar of the church and so on. His research and teaching focus on public opinion and political representation, mass incarceration and the legal system, and data science. But the Bible is not an instruction manual or rule book but a powerful learning tool that nurtures our spiritual growth, argues Bible scholar Peter Enns. Anyhow, as I have stated before I respect your thoughts and journey, but I do not think it has to be every doubters Journey. wouldnt it be more appropriate to say that its possibly an I witness account..the sin of certainty. Peter is an Old Testament scholar (PhD, Harvard University) who currently teaches as Affiliate Faculty of Biblical Studies at Eastern University. As if chosen by God to tell people who should be a christian based on their concerns regarding the bible. apprehension uncluttered by thought If only she knew in her lifetime that more than just those nuns was going to be reading her works but many people would be influenced and inspired by her theology. In view of all that is eternal it would not be worth much to consider them other than to satisfy academic curiosity. Peter K. Enns Professor, Department of Government and Brooks School of Public Policy and Robert S. Harrison Director of the Cornell Center for Social Sciences Summary Peter K. Enns is a Professor in the Department of Government and the Brooks School of Public Policy and Robert S. Harrison Director of the Cornell Center for Social Sciences. We struggle with and within the limits of what we can come to know. There is a type of love that can only be experience I think by a parent for their child. We would then be wise to doubt the veracity of our own sight. Interesting title. As is our deference in religious spheres to authorities revelations. (Yawn.) I like your emphasis here. Thanks for this insight. Download Free PDF View PDF. I am not sure that is the name. Were two thousand years in. Praying is not the same as imposing a religion on others. Tweets at @peteenns. I think there are multiple reality tunnels and people make many different claims concerning their personal experiences. But what I cannot comprehend is that after two thousand years, these loftiest of other-way-of-knowing-related claims have produced only some good. I get that I cant prove or disprove God or any God or really anything non-material thats at least logically consistent. All this is to say, I am not ready to leave the hope and realism of modernity behind yet, but if I do it wont be atheism. Many say, Lord, Lord. Small is the gate and narrow is the road. . R'eyes via Compfight Peter Enns is the master at creating blog titles that are both clever and provocative. (Isnt this another example of a way of knowing?). It loads making sure we hold the correct beliefs with too much weight; we then shore up our set of beliefs in a fortress of impregnability, making them the source of our trust and so-called certainty rather trusting in the living God. And it is worth noting that my list is subjective too. St. Davids, PA 19087-3696 There is no external mention of the writing until Origen in the 3rd century. better bring your own redemption when you come Peter Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. There is an even less certain, less dogmatic, less religious, kind of trust. But I also get that Christianity isnt really transforming the world through compassion essentially better than anything or anyone else. Take sight perception as an example. This implies that Joker3857 believes that one cannot be a christian if they think the bible to have errors. On another point, both in Johns writings and Peters writings there are statements of eye-witness testimonies. This wont be solved in a blog post, but heres basically where I am with all this believing in God businessin under 800 words. We also know how it may be tricked to produce the illusion of say motion or scale that is not really there. One atheist and evolutionist, Dr. Jerry Coyne, believes very strongly that evolution and Christianity are not at all compatible. We dont have the tools to give up what makes sense to us without putting up ideological fences and safety nets around everything. here s something about the bible of the peter enns June 1st, 2020 - think about that the old testament of the new testament writers and of the early church was a translation and an imperfect one at that you d think at key moment of god s self disclosure ten things i hate about church and why i go anyway And I learned about the history of all these relatively young fundamentalist Christian colleges founded in the 1920s like WTS, during the fndamentalist-modernist controversy. ~ Jackson Browne. Enns is a frequent contributor to journals and encyclopedias and is the author of several . I didnt say anything about your knowledge of other religions. Messiah College Honestly and looking ahead, my mind is more centered on the significance of the sixth extinction, climate change, the forth-coming dissipation of petroleum energy, a huge human population, limited supply of fresh water for all, and need for compassion for and collaboration with others to existentially address all this. Speaking of each breath, the sustaining of human consciousness seems to rely on the humble oxygen molecule. Yet how is this testimony for more than such kind of belief being an adaptive trait? He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. Id suggest that this is even true among the authors of Scripture and with general trends by the centuries as well as across Fowlers stages of faith as well as by denomination and religion. Bringing people together seems easier when their differences are not discussed. 2. Its not that we dont know, its that our knowing is ultimately so relative. Peter Enns Height He is a man of above-average stature. Perhaps even the characteristics on the other-way-of-knowing list are not beyond study. You never know, He might answer you in a marvelous and loving way. Instead it looks like people have a wide variety of reality tunnels and interpretations. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where "'the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.' As is knowledge of Allah. At the same time, I was taking philosophy and religion courses and was drawn to finding ways to explain my ongoing relationship/wrestling match with God-Jesus-Spirit. Peter Enn's Argument for a Metaphorical Interpretation of the Bible and Why Universalism Is As Legit As . As for your books title, The Sin of Certainty, you seem pretty certain that sin exists, though I suspect humans dont really need thatll added theological term since it seems more like a metaphor for any selfish behavior people of all religions or none already view in a negative fashion. He has taught courses at several other institutions including Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. . To me, simply, neither these two billion adherents nor their leaders really seem all that differentiated from their peer adherents of Allah, Brahma, and more in sacred task of transforming the world. Which faith offers the greatest fulfillment of the cosmos longings? Who said God is a HE? To me there is a sacred goodness in characteristics of the way and Christianitys wins over the centuries are attributable to this. Certainly they are subjective but that does not then mean they cannot be compared. He has taught extensively at the seminary and doctoral levels (Westminster Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, Fuller Theological Seminary, Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Biblical Theological Seminary) and on the undergraduate level (Temple University and Messiah College). . Westminster Theological Seminary I suspect that leaving the Westminster cocoon could be unsettling, but you are still ensconced cozily in the moderate to liberal Christian cocoon. But regarding a mans spiritual experience cannot be denied, well the experience may not perhaps but certainly the interpretation of it can. I am married and trust my wife but like anything, marriage is a complete trust that the other person will be faithful (for better or worse) we live in the tensions of trusting people everyday (even strangers we do not know who drive vehicles). In reality you rarely hear about the average Christian,. And I am not sure about the analogy concerning trusting your wife, unless you wake up everyday lying literally next to a flesh and blood Jesus who literally speaks with you or even makes you breakfast some mornings. Government, College of Arts and Sciences/Public Policy, Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Which then opens up the question of what reality it what knowing we are engaged in. Their experience will be every bit as powerful, transformative, transcendent, etc. And make sure you bring your oil along with your lamps as the bridegroom is a long time in coming yet always arrives soon. But if he gets a response in morse, he doesnt need to empirically see whats on the other side to begin the process of knowing the other side. the way is the path of becoming a new person because one is allowing God to lead you in a sense. To conclude, I'd like to quote Enns one more time. Id rather live today in the western world than at any other time in human history. Personally, I talk to God, make intercession, and he orchestrates reality beyond the sphere of my influence or capability to manipulate the results. THIS IS CANCELLED: His main public presentation will be Saturday, February 15, at 8 p.m. in Sydnor Performance Hall, Schewel Hall, University of Lynchburg, drawing from . One final question. The universe is a really big place. Their experiences of the numinous, or visions or miracles also range far and wide, including the claims of Catholics who see the sun dance, or claim saints cured them or just the saints bones, or the visionary experiences of native Americans, New Agers, UFO abductees (whatever they are experiencing), and wide range of different NDE experiences that dont seem to point in the direction of any one religion being the only true one. Interesting Beau, thanks. By some measure, through Jesus of Nazareth and the ensuing religion of Christianity, a longing has been fulfilled; there has been great participation. In fact, there are now around two billion adherents to the faith. 2) Do their beliefs about God or Gods or whatever bring us to harming the other or the world, or bring us to healing and redeeming? How could God (if He does exist) reject anyone who was honestly searching? I'm an author and biblical scholar. . Such as I would imagine the Eastern Orthodox who are known for such practice and perspective on faith. He was after all, our first RC President. Acts of Interpretation features essays by biblical scholars and theologians offering broad reflections on key interpretive issues, rich readings of challenging biblical texts, and interaction with the Christian exegetical tradition from Melito of Sardis to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.The contributors to this volume are leading figures in the theological interpretation of Scripture. 2020 Peter Danner. What religion, denomination, sect or cult doesnt seek to also inculcate an acceptance of mystery and paradox?. Why do you write books attempting to make more conservative Evangelicals rethink their perspective on the authority of the Bible? Most people who are not believers are not believers because this side has so much certainty over things that we should not be saying we have so much certainty over. Religious conviction without evidence based knowledge is why there are so many religions, denominations, sects and cults and demonizations of one by the other. ". Thank you Joseph. So I would never presume to tell someone like Pete or the Dali Lama that their experiences are not in their subjective sense real. Only that any confidence they glean from those experiences to then conclude what they believe they encountered they actually in fact have, well, that I would claim is highly suspect and demonstrably so. . There are a variety of reasons (speaking myself) that I believe while having doubt and disparaging my trust in God (Jesus) does not solve the dilemma (my own opinion) but creates more problems ( I was not raised Christian either in fact I did not become a Christian until a few years ago). These are subjective, private experiences. Im not discounting the importance of thinking through these deep questions. Some people live with more uncertainty than you do. http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/08/christians-or-non-christians-who-suffer.html Do you know many others like yourselves? When a faith fights the fight of certainty of an understanding the world as-is putting iron age as-is foundations against present-day as-is understandings, the battle is already conceded. This is a dangerous and unbiblical attitude. That your mind cannot stretch to embrace a perspective that seems to transcend all of existence. as yours. I find cultural differences to be fascinating and rich sources in discovering what is possible within the human experience. including the high rate of depression and dropping out among pastors (sure theres always plenty to take their place but look at the turnover! I get your post. That instead, my friend needed to see realia like a man in a soviet prison who goes to the very cell wall and taps a message in morse. The gathered Body of Christ? For, everything is under the one and the same law-the law of transformation and decline. . Not really. This is why I read your blog, Pete! Open your eyes to what there is to see, or let Jesus open them for you (Mark 8, by daubing mud) and I theres not that much problem. In opposition to this you may place the fruits of others and their understanding of God. depth Not sure what the phrase, proper locus of religious conviction means, because based on my own interactions with a wide variety of folks I have noticed that people dont have the same attraction to mystical or spiritual thinking. I think it is safe to say that much of my academic journey has been a process of synthesizing these (and other) influences in my life. As is knowledge of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva. Presume? You will know whom I mean, Atheism may be comparatively popular with God himself, When a pious visitor inquired sweetly, Henry, have you made your peace with God? he replied, We have never quarreled., Henry David Thoreau as quoted in Henry David Thoreau: What Manner of Man? Maybe more so than that of our sense perception of sight? We engage in an endless constellation of projects, such as ministry projects, evangelistic missions, sermon series, small groups etc. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. Dr. Peter Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, PA. Try the works of John Hick, former Evangelical who became a fascinating philosopher of religion and sought a common transcendental basis for them all. What I have noticed especially in connection with your point about knowing God outside of our default rationalism, Pete, is that both as a church and as individual Christians in the West, we find it difficult knowing how to spend time in silence, or in solitude, away from our faith projects or church systems. Your explanation, though a bit slippery to grab with my hands, is similar to some of my conclusions, though none have given me their answer. Adam and Eve are the Bible's first man and first woman. These failures in relationships (failure to relate, especially failure to love) are far more damaging than our many failures to understand, our sessions of doubt or even our failures to understand how we know. Namely the objective facts that these experiences are shared between many parents, that they have roughly the same qualia of experience, and that having a child of your own seems to bring them about. This is the third post in a series on how God speaks to us in Scripture, following a discussion on what the early church fathers believed about how that process happened and Kenton Sparks' adoptionist proposal of a sacred "broken" Bible.. But in essence our Christian hope is a trust that God will in fact be good to his word (which is trust now verifying the identity of God through science observation seems impossible but there are many things, and I say many things we cannot fully grasp by using human studies, judgments, experimentation, etc). One, what does God mean? I have posts on my blog, Scrivenings, about depressions and suicide among Christians, and their gullibility, i.e., religious affinity fraud. My point is a rather modest one: the question of Gods existence is not settledone way or the otheron the basis of the kind of evidence-based knowledge that modern western culture (rightly) embraces to help us explain many, many things around us. 1 Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; It seems like deep human contact or contact with God can exist only within the framework of these projects, based on the protocols of the overarching system. In The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than our "Correct" Beliefs, Enns argues that certainty (especially the theological variety) is inappropriate, dangerous and unbiblical. Or Osama bin Ladin or Warren Jeffs for that matter. Agnostics cant figure it out. Meaning external, physical evidence. Incarceration Nation Now one can doubt that the man, Peter ever lived, but there are extra-biblical references to him as being the head of the church. . He affirms that Israel's laws were not new in content but were uniquely in that they were connected to a monotheistic community-Israel (57). Id suggest if participation, longing, , and immediacy are ways of knowing God, that they would more need to be means of recursively traversing an infinite regress of fractal complexity than means of simply and linearly knowing a static being. Nor does it mean we cannot say anything objective about them. Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies, Back to Undergraduate Theology Department, Graduate & Online Undergraduate Admissions, Palmer Theological Seminary and Palmer College. Over the next twelve months our focus will be "Old and New: An . Introduction: This article will be on the subject of God's wrath and retribution. As a United Methodist, part of how I articulate this is in the language of experience (1 part of what Albert Outler named the Wesleyan quadrilateral). [pp. This is historically what the Church has always taught. Or the mega church movement, to try and get and sustain even a greater Jesus high. This happens not in our mind, but in our spirit. I would encourage you to ask God to show you His truth from His book. I presume you are referring to Islam in your final sentence? Youre still rooting your argument in the same notion of the proper locus of religious conviction. where Paul regards Adam's disobedience as the cause of universal sin and death from which humanity is redeemed through the obedience of Christ. Peter Enns does it again!' Richard Rohr, author of Falling Upward For many Christians, the Bible is a how-to manual filled with literal truths about belief that must be strictly followed. The universal and self-evident problem of death 2: The universal . Peter Enns is Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Concepts of God can propel or retard in this context. For instance, some have hypothesized the benefit of aggressive agency detection. . I also would want to point out that the Christian religion has to do with a person named Jesus (as christians we believe this Jesus is still transforming lives and hes on the loose), in other words it is not just a simple have faith or belief The Christian faith is a living trust that Jesus Christ (messiah) will rescue (has will in the future) the world for a global renewal (earth and heaven). In other words, I dont believe in God because I see no evidence for God or I believe in God because the evidence proves it are both nonsensical claims for me. Only if he means it in the wooden empiricist sense. Ive spent a lot of time thinking about subjectivity, hermeneutics, revelation, and Jesus as mediator (in the sense that Jesus is the medium through which God is known does the Spirit now occupy that space? Indeed, it is a way of knowing that has been championed as part of the development of culture in the Western tradition, but to pigeon hole the method as somehow distinctively Western is to lose something about its universality in a universe that significantly appears to exhibit fundamental uniformity. Thanks for this post. I think there are many different kinds of trust in God, not just the Christian God of the Bible. Let God alone if need be. If labels have to be used, I wonder if you would identify, or at least sympathize, with igtheism, which holds that every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God. Twelve years later, Old Testament scholar Peter Enns has confirmed my suspicions, . Reason and sagacity cannot visualise Him. We know by comparing our own, internal, subjective experiences of sight that this is a largely reliable sense. But when you reach the point where there is little to differentiate between different encounters or transcendent perceptions yielding incompatible truth claims, then you are not just dealing with a measure of uncertainty to be tolerated, but rather a total lack of confidence in whether what you believe corresponds to actual reality. I also think such proper locus can help one find meaning, less in understanding reality and more, in creating or otherwise affecting reality. Peter Enns (Ph.D., Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of biblical studies at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Given all this and more, my personal choice is simply to continue to acknowledge Gods blessings upon my life and therefore acknowledge God. Call it a transcendental trust like Thoreau had, or like John Hick in our own day. ), and you certainly dont hear much about divorce, suicide So lets give that a shot. You cannot relate to it if you dont have a little one of your own. Which may be revealed when two people have mutually incompatible direct perceptions in these experiences. We dont know how to break down the ideologies of our false identities or how to welcome others with conflicting ideologies or identities. Academically, I graduated from Messiah College in 1982 (Behavior Science), WTS in 1989 (MDiv), and Harvard University in 1994 (PhD, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations). Im all for that. There do not exist words in any language to specify or define His qualities, peculiarities, characteristics and singularities. contemplative What are you reading good Sir, that I may know too? So Im not really sure what your point is. On what basis is God still an option for you?. Specifically on love as a way of knowing. It is into this "cross-pressured" situation that Peter Enns wades with this new book, The . Polls, Statistics and other Data I said that when it comes to experiences, peoples experience of Allah or Yahweh or Jesus or Krishna or Buddha lay along a wide spectrum. And I also can grok the paradoxical Essence of a Triune God, the kind of God allowing himself to be humbled and broken in kenotic sacrifice as an example of a new Way of Being, in hope of bringing forth a Kingdom. . He brings these questions to his conversation with Jim, wrestling with how the Bible relates to our lives today. Peter Enns is a very appealing writer evidenced in his The Bible Tells Me So. In these chapters God fashions "the man" (ha adam) from earth (adamah), breathes life into his nostrils, and makes him a caretaker . Lets not let a label lead us toward an equivocation. much more defined by their longing than by theirexperience. If the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ does exist, watch out. The Christian trusts God even when things do not always make sense this tensions exists in the Christian message and story (but it exists in everyones story) the four Gospels are not shy in displaying this reality. enns has published three books hijacking the agenda: economic power and political influence (winner of the gladys m. kammerer award, presented by the american political science association to honor the best book published during the previous year in the field of u.s. national policy), incarceration nation: how the united states became the most As is knowledge of the Theotokos. I also visited Westminster Seminary in my early 20s and purchased some books in the store there, caught a glimpse of Cornelius Van Til, and later I exchanged emails with Paul Seely on biblical cosmology, a WTS graduate. Their work involves moving from the phenomenon through the perceptual equipment to the physical biology that makes subjective states objectively real. Pete is a well-known bible scholar and is the Abram S. Clemens professor of Bible Studies at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. Im more so now in my life in the former group of people. Too much struggle is maladaptive. The human mind cannot think alone. And I echo your sentiments on the value of a more actively contemplative way of life. Havent found much written on it. Now as to whether what the historical eyewitness claims he experienced is a real supernatural phenomenon well that is where faith comes in. But does anyone really need to write a book to make explicit what every religious person implicitly practices in terms of maintaining their beliefs and holy practices? The list of aspects offered doesnt quite get us to a means by which to assess exclusivity. With this, I think wed not only find less conflict but more hope realized. If we raise it all today (or tomorrow or Wednesday tbh) we're going to make. No- before the 70s it was safe for white little girls and boys to walk down the street correct yourself- thee was never a time in any country where there was absolute peace- even in the Bible. This blog was first posted in March 2016. Indeed. I find much of the tradition of Christianity over the last 2,000 yearsand most acutely in the generations of my life in Americato have failed what I consider to be the best centerings of the apocalyptic hope of Jesus of Nazareth. Sorry, curious. I think the wrong way of knowing Peter refers to as rational analysis possibly could be better worded as non-paradoxical., In some ways (at least today), I cant help but think the answer to the does God exist? riddle is the Zens .. The way we organize socially as spiritual communities reflects how we organize the project of faith internally. Lets not let a label lead us toward an equivocation and paradox? your own academic curiosity illusion of motion! 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