I've finished reading the controversial book Inspiration and Incarnation by Peter Enns. Over the coming weeks I'll make an attempt at copying and pasting Enns' work onto this blog relaying the core message of this thought-provoking book. Some may have little interest in what Enns has to say, others may be profoundly interested. Whatever the case, I can safely say that you hold to a certain doctrine of Scripture. You may think it inerrant, infallible, unique, revelatory, God-breathed, Spirit-inspired, or just a big collection of books written by a bunch of Jews about their made-up god, perhaps with some historical value, but with little other modern-day usefulness.
I also don't think it's too outlandish to say that our doctrine of Scripture affects what we do with Scripture. First of all, it will determine whether we read it or not. Secondly, should we think of Scripture as something worth reading, our doctrine will affect how we read the various texts, and consequently, how we respond. In other words, this is pretty fundamental stuff that Enns is dealing with. But let the reader be warned: it will almost certainly challenge some of the ideas about Scripture that you have in your head. It will challenge both those who hold to a high opinion of Scripture, and those who hold to a low. That's not to say that Enns is promoting a "happy medium" opinion of Scripture. His purpose, rather, is to spark a conversation where the evangelical doctrine of Scripture is the topic and ancient near-eastern (ANE for short) literature is the aforementioned spark. What happens when the two meet? Does all talk of uniqueness, revelation, and inspiration come crashing down? Are Christians mad to think of the Bible as God's Word? Or have we simply misunderstood what God's Word to us might look like?
Enns notes in his preface that "God honours our honest questions". This recap of Enns's book will deal with some of those honest questions.
I also don't think it's too outlandish to say that our doctrine of Scripture affects what we do with Scripture. First of all, it will determine whether we read it or not. Secondly, should we think of Scripture as something worth reading, our doctrine will affect how we read the various texts, and consequently, how we respond. In other words, this is pretty fundamental stuff that Enns is dealing with. But let the reader be warned: it will almost certainly challenge some of the ideas about Scripture that you have in your head. It will challenge both those who hold to a high opinion of Scripture, and those who hold to a low. That's not to say that Enns is promoting a "happy medium" opinion of Scripture. His purpose, rather, is to spark a conversation where the evangelical doctrine of Scripture is the topic and ancient near-eastern (ANE for short) literature is the aforementioned spark. What happens when the two meet? Does all talk of uniqueness, revelation, and inspiration come crashing down? Are Christians mad to think of the Bible as God's Word? Or have we simply misunderstood what God's Word to us might look like?
Enns notes in his preface that "God honours our honest questions". This recap of Enns's book will deal with some of those honest questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment