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Because the Bible Tells Me So… or does it?

By Jeremy Myers
28 Comments

Because the Bible Tells Me So… or does it?

Do you struggle with the Bible? Do you wrestle with what it says, what it means, and how to apply it to your life?

Confession time…

I do.

Here’s another confession….

When it comes to helping me understand what to do with Scripture,ย Bible college and seminary didn’t help me much. In fact, some days, I wonder if Bible College and Seminary hindered more than they helped.

We have probably all had run-ins with Christians who like to condemn others (or condemn you) by saying, “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it.”

Okay, here’s another confession…

god said it I believe it that settles itI used to be one of those Christians. I used to preach that very thing.

Anyway, the only thing that Bible College and Seminary really did for me was giving a more “scholarly” way of saying, “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it.”

We were trained to talk about the Greek and Hebrew, and to reference the cultural, historical, and grammatical contexts of whatever passage were were studying, thereby giving us more and better ammunition against those with whom we disagreed.

In the end though, it all boiled down to the same thing…

Though the uneducated masses say, “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it!” I could now say, “The Hebrew says this, the cultural background study backs it up, therefore, I believe it, and you better not disagree with me, you ignorant and uneducated worm!”

Anyway, I have begun to try to back away from that sort of approach to Scripture, mostlyย because it looks nothing like Jesus, and have begun to try to figure out what the Bible is, how it should be used, and how it should be read, taught, and applied to our lives.

The Bible Tells Me So

So it was with great interest that I recently picked up The Bible Tells Me So, by Peter Enns. I had previously read his book, Inspiration and Incarnation, and found it extremely helpful, and so decided to read this newest book of his as well.

The Bible Tells me So

As with everything Dr. Enns writes, this book was full of deep insights and helpful ideas about the nature and authority of Scripture. What surprised me most about this most recent book, however, was the keen sense of humor that was displayed on every page. There were numerous places where I laughed out loud at what I was reading. Dr. Enns has a very good sense of humor!

Humor is important for a book like this, where so much of what is foundational to many forms of modern Christianity is being challenged.

Inย The Bible Tells Me So, Peter Enns attempts to present an approach to Scripture which allows for us to accept that it has historical and scientific errors and that it contradicts itself at various places, and yet still retain the Bible as an important witness to the theological and spiritual struggles which were faced by our forefathers in the faith, and more importantly, as a historical document about the life of Jesus and how the death and resurrection of Jesus resulted in the transformation of the first century mediterranean world.

Reading over that paragraph again, I am pretty sure that Peter Enns would not agree with how I phrased everything in there…

…Maybe it is best to say this: Peter Enns wants us to stop agreeing with the Bible in everything it says, and instead, begin arguing with God about what is in the Bible. That, he says, is the purpose of Scripture. He says that if the Bible teaches us anything about God, it is that we learn about God and develop a relationship with Him, not by simply accepting everything the Bible says, but by actually engaging with God in a spirited (both senses of the word are intended there) discussion about the Bible.

In other words … don’t be this guy…

wrong approach to Scripture

Frankly, I really, really like this approach, because (as you may know if you have been reading my blog for the past six years or so), this is all I have been able to do with Scripture for the past decade or so. Despite all my training and education, I still cannot make heads or tails of the Bible. If Peter Enns is right, this is exactly how God wants it!

Though not directly stated anywhere, Peter Enns appears to be a proponent of the idea that the Bible is a library of books written by various authors from various theological perspectives, who are in dialogue with each other over the nature of God and what the human response to Him should be. Others who hold this view say that rather than the Bible being “uni-vocal,” it is “multi-vocal.” That is, rather than speaking with one voice on various topics and subjects, there are numerous voices, and sometimes they disagree with and even contradict one another.

In The Bible Tells Me So, Peter Enns begins by showing that mostย of the traditional approaches to the Bible don’t match up with what the Bible actually appears to be. Following this, he goes through several sections of the Bible, forcing us to read it and see it in a way that you probably won’t hear in most seminaries, churches, or home Bible studies. Then, the book concludes with some explanation of how Jesus, Paul, and the apostles used Scripture, and what we should do with the Bible as it is.ย 

Frankly, this book is going to require a second read for me, and I plan on reading it out loud to my wife. She is a better theologian than I am, and I trust that she will have discernment to see the right (and wrong) with what Peter Enns has written. I figure that if he invites us to argue with God about the Bible, he will not mind too much if my wife and I argue with him…

For now, though, here is my one main reservation about what Peter Enns has written (I have many reservations about the book …. please don’t read my review as a glowing endorsement)…

The problem with the approach of Peter Enns in The Bible Tells Me So is not so much in what he says, but in the logicalย ramifications of what he says.

For example, he says that the Bible teaches us about Jesus (p. 237). But does it? If large chunks of Scripture are stories that have been fabricated to answer the pressing social and theological questions of the author’s day (pp. 75, 94, 105, 107-130, etc.), why could this not also have been true about the stories of Jesus? This is especially true if the Gospel authors were not actually eyewitnesses to Jesus (as Enns believes – p. 78).

Ultimately, if Enns is right, the Bible is little more than the best-selling piece of historical literature of all time. Is it inspiring? Yes! Interesting? Sure! Can it guide us in our own life and with our own questions? You bet! Is it life changing? It can be. But is it really from God? Not so much.

the bible tells me soLook, this approach to Scripture is way better than the fundamentalist approach where we carry out all manner of atrocities inย Jesus’ name. But I just struggle with having a Bible like this. If Enns is right, what sets the Bible apart from other religious books? How can it be authoritative at all? How can it be reliable or trustworthy in what it says about anything?

In the end, I highly recommend you buy and read The Bible Tells Me So. I recommend it, not because I agree with everything that is written (though in time, maybe I will!), but because the book made me think. This is the best kind of book! I like books that make me think, even when I disagree.

Hmmm…. maybe that is what the Bible is after all….

Until then, ย what sort of issues do you have with Scripture? Do youย think that theย approach of Peter Enns (according to my woefully inadequate summary above) could provide a way of escape from your problems with the Bible? Or do you think his approach simply creates more (and greater) difficulties? Let me know in the comment section!

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: bible, bible reading, Bible Study, books, Books I'm Reading, Theology of the Bible

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Words of Calvinism and the Word of God

By Jeremy Myers
52 Comments

Words of Calvinism and the Word of God

TULIP

As with much of what I write on this blog, my current blog series on Calvinism will eventually become a book. I have decided to call this book The Words of Calvinism and the Word of God. To make sure you get a free PDF of this book when it comes out, please request to get updates from me using one of the forms on this site.

Until then, I will try to update this page with the current list of blog posts on Calvinism. Please note that even though you will be able to read much of the content of this book using the links below, the final version of the book will be altered and updated to reflect additional research and any changes I might want to make to the posts based on the feedback and comments I receive on each individual post.

In other words, please read through the posts and leave comments! I value your input and learn from your suggestions — even if it is just to point out a typographical mistake!

So here are the posts in this series on Calvinism so far:

Introduction to Calvinsim

  • I believe in the Five Solas of the Reformation
  • My Personal History with Calvinism
  • A Brief History of John Calvin
  • A Brief Summary of Calvinism
  • A Summary of Calvinism from Calvinists
  • Calvinism’s TULIP by any other name still doesn’t smell as sweet

Calvinism and the Dictionary

  • Faith
    • What is Faith?
    • Are there Degrees of Faith?
    • Faith is not a Gift; Faith is not a Work
  • Gospel
    • What is the Gospel?
    • Jesus is the Gospel; Calvinism is Not
    • It’s impossible to believe the entire Gospel
  • Salvation
    • It’s possible to believe in Jesus but not be saved
    • I hope I get saved as I write this post (and you get saved reading it)
    • Salvation Confusion
  • Forgiveness – Two Kinds of Forgiveness: One is free; one is conditional
  • Repentance – Repentance is not a condition for eternal life
  • Eternal Life
    • Words that Do Not Refer to Eternal Life: Salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven
    • Words that Do Not Refer to Eternal Life: Inheritance and Reward
    • Words that Do Not Refer to Eternal Life: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification
  • Grace
    • Scandalous, Outrageous, Shocking Grace
    • Grace is absolutely Free
    • Romans 6:1 as a Litmus Test for Grace
  • Calvinism and the NIV
  • 3 Tactics Calvinists Use Against Non-Calvinists

Total Depravity

  • Total Depravity According to Calvinists
    • Total Depravity as Total Inability
    • Do Humans Have Free Will? Calvinism Says No.
    • Dead in Sin: A Favorite Calvinistic Analogy
    • Is Faith a Work?
    • Is Faith a Gift from God?
    • Does Regeneration Precede Faith?
  • Total Depravity according to Scripture
    • Calvinism and Genesis 6:5
    • Genesis 6:6 and Genesis 8:21 do not teach Total Depravity
    • Are People Born in Sin? (Psalm 51:5)
    • Psalm 143:2 does not teach Total Inability
    • Does Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29 teach Total Depravity?
    • Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 64:6 Do Not Teach Total Depravity
    • Does Jeremiah 17:9 teach Total Depravity?
    • John 3:3 Does Not Teach Total Inability
    • John 6:44 is a key text for Total Depravity. Too bad it doesnโ€™t teach itโ€ฆ
    • John 8:43 does not teach total inability
    • John 15:4-5 Does Not Teach Total Inability
    • Is Paul teaching Calvinism in Romans 3:10-12?
    • Paul Does Not Teach Total Depravity in Romans 3
    • Humans have three parts: Body, Soul, and Spirit
    • Romans 7: Did Paul Struggle with Sinful Flesh?
    • Romans 8:7-8, Enmity with God, and Calvinism
    • Can the Unbeliever Understand the Things of God? (1 Corinthians 2:14)
    • Removing the Veil from the Gospel โ€“ 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
    • 7 Uses of the word โ€œDeadโ€ in the New Testament
    • What does it mean to be dead in sin? Ephesians 2:1-3
    • The Secret Logic Behind Total Depravity
    • Is faith the gift of God in Ephesians 2:8-9?
    • Are All Gentiles Depraved in the Mind? (Ephesians 4:17-19)
    • If Judaizers are Right, then theyโ€™re Wrong (Titus 1:15)
    • Is the World Controlled by the Devil? 1 John 5:19
    • Why 1 John 5:1 does not teach that regeneration precedes faith
  • The Last Word on Total Depravity
    • What I believe about Total Inability
    • What I believe about Free Will
    • What it means to be Dead in Sin
    • Faith is NOT a Work
    • Faith is NOT a Gift from God
    • Regeneration Follows Faith
    • You Can Believe!

Unconditional Election

  • Unconditional Election According to Calvinists
    • The U in TULIP โ€“ Unconditional Election
    • Unconditional Election Quotes from Calvinists
    • Calvinist Quotes on Reprobation
  • Unconditional Election According to Scripture
    • Israel is Godโ€™s Chosen Nation โ€ฆ but what does that mean?
    • Jesus is the Elect One
    • The Church is an Elect People
    • Some Surprising Truths about Godโ€™s So-Called โ€œElectionโ€ of Abram in Genesis 12:1-3
    • More Coming Soon!
  • The Last Word on Unconditional Election
    • Coming Soon!

Limited Atonement

  • Posts Coming Soon!

Irresistible Grace

  • Posts Coming Soon!

Perseverance of the Saints

  • Posts Coming Soon!

The Sovereignty of God

  • Posts Coming Soon!

 

God is Featured Bible & Theology Topics: books, Books by Jeremy Myers, Calvinism, Theology of Salvation, TULIP, word of god

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Making Sense of the Bible

By Jeremy Myers
45 Comments

Making Sense of the Bible

Making Sense of the Bible

Making Sense of the Bible is the book I wish I had read 20 years ago. It would have saved me so much headache, heartache, and trouble as I have sought to make sense of how to understand what the Bible teaches about God, and how to reconcile the enemy-loving Jesus with the enemy-killing God in the Old Testament.

In Making Sense of the Bible , Adam Hamilton brings sanity back to the Bible wars. With clear explanation and compelling exhortation, he explains the doctrines of canonization, inspiration, and inerrancy in ways that make sense and liberate the Bible from the theological shackles in which we have bound it. In the end, Hamilton shows that the Bible is much more than what weโ€™ve been led to believe.

making sense of the BibleAs I finished the book, it gave me a new hope that the Bible is for today, and that God can speak to me through the pages of Scripture. Yet it did this by arguing against the traditional doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy, showing that the way these doctrines are taught today was not the way they were understood in the early church, and is not even what Scripture says about itself. Yet this does not mean the Bible not inspired, or that the Bible is hopelessly full of errors and cannot be trusted. Far from it, Adam Hamilton shows how we can trust the Bible, and how the Holy Spirit breathes life into the Bible so that we can understand it for today.

Best of all, this book closed with several chapters on pertinent theological questions for today, such as how to reconcile the Bible and science, how to understand the violence of God in the Old Testament, and how to make sense of what the Bible teaches about women, homosexuality, and the fate of those who have never heard the gospel.

The pastoral heart of Adam Hamilton really comes out in the book, and if you have ever had concerns about โ€œgoing down the slippery slopeโ€ by giving up the belief in the inspiration or inerrancy of Scripture, this book is an excellent source to see how someone can abandon these and still hold on to their faith. In fact, this book helped me see that giving up the traditional understandings of these doctrines can actually help strengthen oneโ€™s faith in God and aid one in following Jesus more closely. I highly recommend Making Sense of the Bible .

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: bible, books, Books I'm Reading, Theology of the Bible

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Convictions of Marcus Borg

By Jeremy Myers
10 Comments

Convictions of Marcus Borg

convictions - Marcus borgBack in 1995 I was a 5-point hyper Calvinist. Over the course of the next 3 years, and through studying various passages and reading various books, I dropped belief in the third point of Calvinism: Limited Atonement. But I told myself that I would never drop the other 4 points.

At that time, I read some book by Clark Pinnock (I donโ€™t remember the title) which recounted his exodus from Calvinism. He said that he too began by dropping Limited Atonement, and over the next several years, the other four points dropped out of his theology as well. He then went on to become a defender of inclusivism and open theism.

After reading that book, I wrote a paper called โ€œThe Pinnockio Pathโ€ in which I slammed Clark Pinnock for his theological conclusions. I basically called him a lying (Pinocchio โ€ฆ get it?) heretic. In the paper I said that while Pinnock had rightly dropped the third point of Calvinism, he should have stopped there (like me), for the rest of his theological journey led him into some strange lands and heretical conclusions.

Looking back now, I laugh at myself, for it appears I have traveled nearly the same road as Clark Pinnock. I donโ€™t defend inclusivism or open theism (Yet???), but I no longer consider myself a Calvinist of any shape or size. (I call myself a 2 and 1/2 point Calvinist, because I believe in half of each point: depravity, election, atonement, grace, and the saints).

I have also learned, I hope, to be a little more gracious toward those who have studied longer and traveled further than I have, knowing that I might end up exactly where they are, if I keep studying and following where Jesus leads (to the best of my ability).

All this is an introduction to a book I just finished reading, titled Convictions, by Marcus Borg. It is sort of a theological autobiography, in which Borg recounts his theological journey into what he calls โ€œProgressiveโ€ Christianity, and explains the central ideas and convictions (hence the name of the book) which led him to the central beliefs he now holds.

As I read, I found that strange sense of dรฉjร  vu from when I read Clark Pinnock so many years ago. I recognized that much of the early questions and studies that led Borg to where he now finds himself, are the same questions and studies that I am currently facing. Does that mean that just as I followed the โ€œPinnockio Pathโ€ I am now on the Path of the Borg so that โ€œresistance is futileโ€? (You Star Trek fans will get that.)

It could be. And if so, I accept it, because as I look at Borgโ€™s convictions, I find myself almost there already.

Convictions - Marcus BorgAmong his convictions which Marcus Borg explains in his book is the idea that salvation is about way more than just going to heaven when we die. As I have argued for years, the Gospel is about all of life, not just what happens to us after death. Salvation is not just about how we will live in the hereafter, but also how we live in the here and now.

Another conviction Borg unfolds is the idea that Jesus is the lens by which we must read an interpret all of Scripture. This too is something I have been writing about for two years or more, and am always thrilled when I encounter other writers and scholars saying the same thing.

Then he has a chapter on how the Penal Substitutionary view of the atonement leads to some bad theology about God and our sin. Borg argues that the cross still matters and is central to Christianity, but the cross was not some sort of blood sacrifice as a payment for sin or a strange way of God dealing with His own anger by killing His Son.

There are other chapters as well, all of them good. There was an excellent chapter on Borgโ€™s conviction about peace and non-violence.

The chapter that challenged me most was the chapter about how the Bible is true even though it isnโ€™t literally true. I am really grappling with the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy right now, and found much of what Borg said to be helpful as he explained how he reads and understand the Bible, even though he doesnโ€™t believe the Bible is inerrant.

This is a great introduction to some of the central beliefs of Borg, and also to many of the central convictions of an ever-widening swath of Christians in the world today.

My only real complaint is that there were not more footnotes in the book. Since I would love to read up more on some of the ideas he presents, I would have liked to see more footnotes about where I can turn to study further, or at least a โ€œRecommended Readingโ€ list in the back.

Whether you agree with where Christianity is headed, or are fighting to hold back the tide, this book provides a good introduction to some of the convictions of progressive Christianity, and will both affirm and challenge many of your own theological convictions. I highly recommend it. You can get a copy of Convictions from Amazon.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: books, Books I'm Reading, marcus borg, Theology - General

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Drunk with Blood: God’s Killings in the Bible

By Jeremy Myers
33 Comments

Drunk with Blood: God’s Killings in the Bible

Drunk with BloodAs I continue to write on how to understand the violence of God in the Old Testament, I am always shocked whenever I run into a Christian who thinks the Bible isnโ€™t violent. I want to ask them if they have read anything outside of the New Testament (Even then, you have the book of Revelation and various teachings on hell).

One of the reasons is it is so critical to not only own up to the violence of Scripture, but also to have an answer for it, is because the violence of God in the Bible is one of the main reasons people today are rejecting Christianity and denying the existence of a good and loving God.

So if you happen to be a Christian who doesnโ€™t know the Bible is violent, OR if you happen to think the violence of God in the Bible is โ€œno big deal,โ€ let me invite you to read  Drunk With Blood by Steve Wells. If you are a fundamentalist Christian, you will probably be offended at the humorous approach Steve Wells takes in his book, Drunk With Blood, by pointing out all the violence of Scripture, but I think that humor is the only way to write a 300-page book detailing all the violence in the Christian Scriptures. If the book didnโ€™t contain humor, by the time we were done reading about all the killings in the Bible, most of us would want to kill ourselves as well. Without the humor, itโ€™s depressing reading.

As for myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I have read lists of the violence in Scripture before, but never one so detailed, so thorough, and so entertaining.

I personally donโ€™t think Steve was โ€œfairโ€ with all of the biblical accounts of violence, since he often cuts off quotations in mid-sentence, but with all the clear โ€œunfairnessโ€ in Scripture where actual human lives are getting โ€œcut offโ€ by God, itโ€™s hard to quibble over minor details like that.

Look, if you want to know how the Bible looks to someone who doesnโ€™t read the Bible through โ€œChristian-coloredโ€ glasses, you must read this book. And if you want to know why Christians are often seen as hypocritical and violent, it is because we defend the actions in the Bible as โ€œholy and justโ€ while condemning identical behavior in people of other religions.

As a Christian myself, I believe Drunk With Blood should be mandatory reading for all Christians. 

And hey! Bill Maher recommends it too:

Drunk with Blood

Drunk With Blood shows us what we Christians don’t want to admit, that God is violent! The sooner we own up to this fact, the sooner we can start dealing with it honestly, and trying to understand the Old Testament violence of God in light of Jesus Christ dying on the cross.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bill Maher, books, Books I'm Reading, violence of God, When God Pled Guilty

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