I only presume that peoples experiences of God are a mixed bag that lay along a very wide spectrum. Outside of his academic work Enns is a contributor to HuffPost and Patheos. Slow chuckle. There are great books written by the likes of Brennan Manning on trusting God and there are great books written on eschatology (Jurgen Moltmann, N. T. Wright, etc) about Gods salvation extending from the ends of the earth. Peter Enns is an American theologian, author, professor, and Biblical scholar. and Ph.D. Harvard University Edit. He likes to tell stories about the messy Bible and is the author of The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. None can fully understand or explain His Being however hard he my try. There are surely myriad of ways of knowing God In the provIsIons that are avaIlable to each one of us, As one is riding the Starlight Express propelled through time experiencing mAturity, old Age And deAth. He has written or edited over a dozen books and many articles and essays. Peter Enns Age He was born on January 2, 1961, in Passaic, New Jersey, in the United States. Anyhow, as I have stated before I respect your thoughts and journey, but I do not think it has to be every doubters Journey. How could God (if He does exist) reject anyone who was honestly searching? 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? So sad to have so much education without conviction. I think the answer is bringing up the conversations more and trying to find what we have in common with each other. How have we regressed so far in 56 years? . Let us have both a precision of mind and openness of heart in dialoging on these matters. . I love nothing more than learning about peoples stories and would love to learn more about yours. If the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ does exist, watch out. fullness As long as the genes replicate, its worked. It is not when I am going to meet him, but when I am just turning away and leaving him alone, that I discover that God is. 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? This discovered aspect is something that has given us shared trust in the way of knowing and ability to converge on what is true. Not if hes using evidence in the sense Ive advocated for in this thread Pete. Instead it looks like people have a wide variety of reality tunnels and interpretations. It is into this "cross-pressured" situation that Peter Enns wades with this new book, The . Id take the liberty of summarizing that your belief in God, to the extent you do, is based on faith, not fact. Certainly they are subjective but that does not then mean they cannot be compared. If you ask your typical Tibettan Buddhist monk, deeply committed to this same type of contemplative knowing, to describe their experience they will articulate something akin to everything you describe. Youre closer than you think. That your mind cannot stretch to embrace a perspective that seems to transcend all of existence. The gathered Body of Christ? Are we to have doubts that Lincoln actually wrote it there are no living eye-witnesses needless to say. But what is your source of the claim that God prefers paradox and mystery? in being with another person expressing love in ones flesh. Got you. He speaks actively in academic and ecclesiastical venues on topics pertaining the Bible and Christian faith. I mean, I continue to wonder about such questions after leaving Evangelicalism. Some have thought it to be evasiveness. He was after all, our first RC President. Peter Enns Quotes. Too much struggle is maladaptive. Origen and universalism, in general, were condemned as unorthodox at the Fifth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553) . 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). better bring your own redemption when you come who made you need milk? Evidence based knowledge may not be necessary for a person to believe in God, but it sure would be handy when it comes to rival claims about God between people in different religions, denominations and mystical sects, not to mention between various schools of non-religious philosophical theists, agnostics and atheists. What does is look like to seek God? Depending on how you interpret Gods word, I hope He is not good to it in the sense of damning nonbelievers to an eternity of torment. Some people really like what I say. And this is the connection to mysticism. And there is no one way to come to belief or faith in God, and in Christ our Savior. 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. Yep. To me, simply, neither these two billion adherents nor there leaders really seem all that differentiated from their peer adherents of Allah, Brahma, and more in sacred task of transforming the world. Relationship is key, whether we are thinking about non-living parts of the cosmos, the living world, human-human relationships or human-divine relationships. Thats why all we need to focus on is the Way; which is your way that youre honestly seeking God. " To love as God loves means loving not just others like us, but those who are not. And if you dont fit into the system? Why the need to respond ? St. Davids, PA 19087-3696 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. In Inspiration and Incarnation, Peter Enns proposes an incarnational model for understanding how the Bible was inspired by God. (Isnt this another example of a way of knowing?). What are you reading good Sir, that I may know too? Interesting Beau, thanks. But you can deny that my experience reflects actual motion in reality. Basis for my response: 2 Peter 1:15 to 2 Peter 2:2. http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2016/01/gods-mixed-messages-youth-pastor-killed.html Did you see the same thing I saw? Does it mean that same thing to you?. much more defined by their longing than by theirexperience. Thanks for an honest perspective which does not offer more than can be proven. Knowledge of God is described by terms like participation, longing, , immediacy.. defying compelling verbal expression As an admittedly poor psychology major in college, I was particularly fascinated with neurology and how humans process and interpret information/stimuli. Magic is not real. I think that if the objective is to free people from reifying and trusting their own beliefs rather than trusting the living God, invoking the word sin frequently, which is an evangelical habit, is counterproductive. That is what He did for me over 50 years ago. What do you think of people like George Mller? The more I learn about the cosmos and humanitys journey of understanding it, the more the term evidence seems to be an oxymoron. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. However, I tend to apply such experiences to relationships that I have with the people that surround me not to the deities of ancient cultures. I read the first chapter or whatever was free that you sent. . I think there are many different kinds of trust in God, not just the Christian God of the Bible. The way we organize socially as spiritual communities reflects how we organize the project of faith internally. including the high rate of depression and dropping out among pastors (sure theres always plenty to take their place but look at the turnover! But may I pose this: (2 Peter 3:9), he does not force his love on anyone. I am committed to encouraging young Christian men and women to explore their faith by engaging Scripture, and in so doing make their faith their own and mature as followers of Christ. . He has not permitted human mind to grasp the Essence of His Being **YET** He has not prevented them from realising His Presence. I am Peter EnnsI am a biblical scholar. Piper argues that God's judgments are just and shouldn't be questioned. transrational When asked, do you believe God exists?, I cant help but response with, what do you mean by God?'. You can hold your views and that is simply fine (I respect them) but just because you cannot see the reasons for people maintaining a doubting christian faith does not mean you are right and everyone else should take a step further and doubt the whole thing That is an over simplification of the complexity of the christian faith. Messiah College Let God alone if need be. According to Enns, when Paul spoke about Adam, he was not communicating actual history (though Paul believed that he was), rather, he was highlighting an important theological fact (the universal sinfulness of man), employing the most foundational biblical idiom available to him (Enns 2012, p. 142). I teach courses in Old and New Testaments at Eastern University (near Philadelphia). He is also co-founder and chief data scientist at Verasight. Introduction to the Old Testament; Introduction to the New Testament; Biblical Hermeneutics; Israelite History and Historiography; Hebrew Prophets; Romans in Context; Genesis in Context; Research Methods in Biblical Studies; From Conquest to Exile; Wisdom and Psalms; Science and the Bible; Torah. 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. Knowing God is a life-long participation. http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/08/christians-or-non-christians-who-suffer.html After writing "Analysis of Rachel Held Evan's Book "Inspired" Part 1: Introduction" yesterday I noticed that Rachel Held Evans sees Peter Enns as a mentor. 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. And there are child-rearing costs to and constraints concerning size of head vs. size of pelvis. Read Dr. Enns onThe Bible for Normal People Peter Enns is a very appealing writer evidenced in his The Bible Tells Me So. I like the fruit of this way of knowingeverything from electricity and medicine to electron-microscopesand radio telescopes. Peter Enns' latest book is written in praise of question marks, especially those that crowd our minds when God goes missing. He brings these questions to his conversation with Jim, wrestling with how the Bible relates to our lives today. To dig down a little deeper theologically, I can deeply understand the paradox of the Incarnation of not only a God-as-man, but in the form of a baby in a manager in Galilee in first-century Palestine. Evidence presented to our reasoning faculties is one way of knowing, not the only way, which is obvious. Fideism is a rich and credible approach to knowing God. He has taught courses at several other institutions including Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Some people live with more uncertainty than you do. Just trust in Him. Does God exist? To the person without that God-Given faith, none of this makes any sense or is believable. However, I think you are confusing or conflating the experience of God with the existence of God. One of the hallmarks of progressive Christianity is a rejection of biblical sexuality, and an affirmation of same-sex marriage and premarital sex. If another person or group of persons has a different list, they have different values from mine. Really, evidence is simply a modern, western way of coming to belief or faith or knowledge? The idea there is magic in the universe is ridiculous, childish, and completely impossible. Having beliefs was like always clinging tightly to something in the water to keep one afloat, always being afraid of letting go and learning to swim in the sea of faith. But if you are after people of all religions, denominations, sects and cults saying, We dont really know, but why change because this seems to be working alright? Fine. Id be interested to know then what your thoughts are with the more broad, inclusive sense of evidence then. In this episode of The Tentative Apologist Podcast we sit down with Dr. Peter Enns to explore a range of questions relating to the Bible, science and faith. They explore the potential behind reading the Bible creatively, the dangers of our modernist sense of truth, and the growing desire for . There is none for 11 Peter, a writing a majority of critical scholarship places at some point in the 2nd century long after Peters death (Wikipedias page on it is a decent starting point showing the various arguments). Download Free PDF View PDF. After I became more of a questioner, and more curious about a lot of things I no longer experienced such manic-depression. Peter Enns is Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Praying is not the same as imposing a religion on others. Again, while it takes a God-given faith to believe the substance of Peter and Johns testimonies, are we to take from your article that we should not put trust in the authenticity of their writings? Why do you write books attempting to make more conservative Evangelicals rethink their perspective on the authority of the Bible? Also try googling sea of faith.. It certainly seems that way as we compare the experiences of people across faiths. Scientists tend to understand everything through the lens of our basic five senses which reside in our body and soul. That is a blessing from God. . Mitchel Modine. To dig down a little deeper theologically, I can deeply understand the paradox of the Incarnation of not only a God-as-man, but in the form of a baby in a manager in Galilee in first century Palestine. Only if he means it in the wooden empiricist sense. Thanks for this post. 2 Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; In addition, he late dates the Exodus in the mid . The only reason I could see us being worried about being wrong about a certain path/religion/idea/concept would be because God (our Creator) might reject us if we chose the wrong path. Human faculties of conception, perception and learning, and attributes of volition, intuition and apprehension cannot catch sight of His Person or fathom the extent of His Might and Glory. Although, both people and God can be disappointing in ways myself included. None the less, I believe in Democracy and think Iron Man is awesome. Perhaps even the characteristics on the other-way-of-knowing list are not beyond study. R'eyes via Compfight Peter Enns is the master at creating blog titles that are both clever and provocative. 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. Adam and Eve are the Bible's first man and first woman. contemplative So its great that God is guiding you and keeping you safe but yet not doing the same for kids with cancer etc. What of our spiritual experiences then? Of course, it helps that I have absolutely no expectations of him whatsoever. It is transrational. 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 . Foreign Professionals in Babylon: Evidence from the Archive in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II Neo-Assyrian Texts from Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon: A Preliminary Report Cities and urban landscapes in the Ancient Near East and Egypt with special focus on the city of Babylon - with Paul Sinclair, Irmgard . Which may be revealed when two people have mutually incompatible direct perceptions in these experiences. You are presuming that I am naive about other religions. Across religions, the evidences are the grapes and figs. But nonetheless they witness them. Also, be sure to read the book rather than a blurb to see what I am after. 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 .. As if chosen by God to tell people who should be a christian based on their concerns regarding the bible. Just dont mistakethis as an argument for Gods existence. Its just where my thinking process is. Therefore, that which is felt or known by the senses, having shape and colour, cannot be God. 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. Im more so now in my life in the former group of people. These are subjective, private experiences. Eye-witness accounts on Mount Sinai, the Mount of transfiguration, the road to Damascus and on and on. Differing, I believe there are grounds for excluding ones own or other faiths. Can I find a certain kind of longing and hope to possibly be filled even on the Trump Train? And I would suggest this hypothetical is realized in all actuality within spiritual perception. It sounds like you are on that path. Love, compassion, empathy, etc. . Sorry for the aimless rambling and thanks again for your post! Bringing people together seems easier when their differences are not discussed. Im pretty sure it looks like what we are doing on here (if our intentions are purely to seek and accept). Try the works of John Hick, former Evangelical who became a fascinating philosopher of religion and sought a common transcendental basis for them all. Combining sophisticated quantitative analysis and compelling case studies, Hijacking the Agenda sets a new standard for research on inequality and American democracyand sounds a loud warning that all scholars and citizens should hear." JACOB HACKER, Stanley Resor Professor of Political Science, Yale University Incarceration Nation 8 inch gullet western saddle, Think you are presuming that I am after is something that has given us shared trust in God and! Both clever and provocative are you reading good Sir, that I have absolutely no expectations of whatsoever... 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And premarital sex sense or is believable Peter 2:2. http: //edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2016/01/gods-mixed-messages-youth-pastor-killed.html Did you the!

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