The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read it - Softcover

Biblical Studies Peter Enns

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062272039 ISBN 13: 9780062272034

Publisher: HarperOne, 2015

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

"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

"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

"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?

About the Author

Peter Enns is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Enns speaks at schools, churches, and seminars across the country and is a frequent contributor to journals and encyclopedias. He is the author of several books, including The Sin of Certainty, The Bible Tells Me So, Inspiration and Incarnation, and The Evolution of Adam.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0062272039
• ISBN 13: 9780062272034
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288