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Removing the Veil from the Gospel – 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

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gospel is veiled 2 Corinthians 4It is common among Calvinistic teachers and authors to say that the reason unbelievers cannot believe the gospel is because their minds have been darkened by the god of this age.

The primary proof text for this idea is 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Calvinists focus in the statement about the minds of the perishing being blinded by the god of this age, and from this, teach that unregenerate people need the divine gift of regeneration before they can believe the gospel. Here is one such explanation from John Piper:

Since men are blind to the worth of Christ, a miracle is needed in order for them to come to see and believe. Paul compares this miracle with the first day of creation when God said, “Let there be light” (Piper, Five Points, 34).

But if this is not what Paul is teaching in 2 Corinthians 4:4, what is he saying?

The Veil on the Gospel

First, as with all the other passages which Calvinists quote, it is critical to understand the surrounding context. In the immediately preceding passage, Paul is explaining that the new covenant in the Spirit has replaced the old covenant of the law (2 Corinthians 3:6). He goes on to say that even though the new covenant is exceedingly more glorious than the old covenant, the Jewish people do not accept it because their minds have been veiled (2 Corinthians 3:14-15).

In fact, Paul even says that their minds are veiled regarding the proper way to read the Old Testament as well (2 Corinthians 3:14). The only way to read the Old Testament, he says, is through Jesus Christ. If someone does not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the veil remains.

The Gospel is Veiled to those who are Perishing (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

This helps us understand what Paul is referring to when he says in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 that the gospel is veiled to those who are perishing, and their minds are blinded. While Paul could be referring primarily to the Jewish people who are still unable to properly read and understand the Old Testament because they do not read it through the lens of Jesus Christ, it seems more natural to read Paul’s statement in light of his ministry to the Gentiles. “The ‘veil’ doesn’t just apply to Jewish people … it applies to people of all sorts” (Wright, 2 Corinthians, 42).

Paul, as the apostle to the Gentiles, undoubtedly ran up against this blindness on numerous occasions, and he is providing a brief explanation here for why some people do not respond to the gospel when it is proclaimed to them.

How to Remove the Veil on the Gospel

Paul, however, does not say that these people can never believe and will never believe. Quite to the contrary, Paul has clearly stated how the veil is removed, thereby implying that it can be removed. How is this? Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:16 that “when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” While initially it might seem that Paul is referring to the initial act of faith in Jesus Christ by which people receive eternal life, the following verse shows that this is not at all what Paul is referring to.

In 2 Corinthians 3:17, Paul clarifies that “the Lord” he has just mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:16 is not Jesus, but the Holy Spirit. He says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit” (N. T. Wright argues that the Spirit of the Lord is active in the fellowship of the saints, and this is where and how the veil is removed. See Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God, II:726).

gospel is veiledWhat this means is that when Paul talks about blindness and the veil in 2 Corinthians 3–4, he is not talking primarily about how a person receives eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ, but about all the other truths of the gospel which are contained in the rest of Scripture, and which are centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The “gospel,” remember, is not simply the message that eternal life is given to those who believe in Jesus for it. This truth is central to the gospel, but it is not the entirety of the gospel. The biblical gospel contains everything related to the person and work of Jesus Christ and the ramifications of these truths for our lives as His followers.

With all of this in mind, what Paul is saying is that nobody can understand the gospel unless they turn to the Holy Spirit for illumination and guidance. Once we do this, He not only removes the veil from our minds, but also helps us live out the truths of the gospel so that we are transformed “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul is saying that people who do not want to see the glorious truth of the gospel will remain darkened in their mind because the god of this age is certainly not going to reveal it to them. If they want to understand the gospel, all they need to do is turn to the Spirit of God for understanding, and he will remove the veil from their hearts and the blindness from their eyes so that they might be understand and obey the gospel of God. “Paul knew that … the gospel could and did pierce the veil” (Wright, 2 Corinthians, 42).

2 Corinthians 4:4 and the Light of the Gospel

That this is the proper way to read 2 Corinthians 4:4 is supported by the verse itself. Paul writes that those who are perishing “do not believe, lest the light of the gospel … should shine upon them.” Paul does not write that they do not believe because they cannot believe, or because the god of this age is preventing them from doing so.

No, Paul says they do not believe, because they do not want the light of the gospel to shine into their lives, thereby calling them to submit to Jesus Christ and Lord and follow Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Paul is not the only one to make this sort of statement in Scripture. The Apostle John writes similarly in his Gospel, where he explains that although Jesus came unto His own people, they did not accept Him (John 1:1-8). And why did they not accept Him.

John explains why later. He says that they did not accept Him because their deeds were evil and they loved darkness rather than light (John 3:18-21). They did not want the light to shine in their lives, because they knew that if it did, they would have to change their beliefs and their behaviors, and so they chose to remain in darkness. Nevertheless, such a condition is not permanent. Jesus himself says that veil of darkness can be removed when the gospel is preached (John 6:45).

All of this is exactly what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3–4.

So does 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 teach the total inability of humanity? No, it teaches the necessity of the Holy Spirit to understand and live the Gospel.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

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A True Foot Washing Service

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mental illnessI deal with men who are mentally ill on a weekly basis at my job. Recently, a young man named Daniel came into my office and said he had a message for me from God. He handed me a note, which said this:

John, as an honor, asked him how might it be that I should wash your feet. He asked, I am. Would you have your brother too, be he, whom would be left to the way? No, say I! Not thy will, but albeit, your will be done, Lord. Amen.

I thanked Daniel for the message from God. He smiled and left.

You might recognize bits of that message as coming from John 13, where Jesus sought to wash the disciples’ feet and Peter objected.

When people say that they are giving me a message from God, very rarely do I think that it is actually a message from God. But with this message from Daniel, I tend to think it was.

“What!?” You might say. “It’s gibberish. It doesn’t make any sense! God wouldn’t do that!”

Wouldn’t He? Have you read the book of Revelation recently? … But this post isn’t about bibliology, so let’s move on…

Thinking about Foot Washing Services

I think it truly was a message from God because that very week I had been thinking about these “foot washing ceremonies” which we sometimes have in church. Can I be frank? I think they’re stupid. I think that foot washing ceremonies completely miss the point of why Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.

Jesus performed that task because it was the most menial task that a household servant could perform at that time. You’ve heard the cultural background, I’m sure. People wore sandals as they walked around in the dusty streets, which were also full of animal droppings. Nobody wanted all this tracked through their house.

Besides, they ate meals at low tables while they reclined on the ground. Which means that everybody was down near foot level. Imagine how feet must have stunk! So they had the lowest of the low household servants wash everybody’s feet as they entered the house.

To show his disciples how much He loved them, He washed their feet. That is, He became the lowest of the low servants in the house.

foot washing ceremonyDoes a modern foot washing ceremony do this? Hardly. More often than not, people who attend these foot washing ceremonies make sure that they washed their feet in advance and scraped all the gunk out of their toenails. Then they wear a clean pair of socks and shoes.

A True Foot Washing Service

If have often thought that if we really wanted to follow the spirit and symbolism of that first foot washing ceremony, we would find the dirtiest and most menial tasks in our churches, our neighborhoods, or our homes, and do those.

I have heard of pastors who pick up cigarette butts from the church parking lot, and go change diapers in the nursery. That’s foot washing! I have heard of youth pastors who led their youth group on a mission’s trip to the local outhouses near where the homeless people live and cleaned them up. That’s foot washing! My friend, Sam Riviera, often walks around where the homeless are and picks up trash along the street. He says it is not uncommon to find used condoms and syringes. That’s foot washing!

But let me get back to Daniel and his note. His note to me from God reminded me that washing someone else’s feet is not just about what you do, but whom you do it for. Yes, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, but remember, Judas was there too. Do you think Jesus skipped Judas as being “unworthy”? I doubt it.

It seemed to me that Daniel’s note was an invitation for me to “wash the feet” of the mentally ill I encounter every week. How? By listening to them with patience, even when I don’t understand a word they are saying. The mentally ill are often mocked, neglected, and abused by those who should love, protect, defend, and care for them. Maybe I can be a kind voice. A helping hand. A listening ear. A pat on the back.

If you don’t know anyone who is mentally ill, that’s okay. There are other people whose feet you can wash. Maybe you could “wash the feet” of Muslim neighbors by being kind to them (without trying to convert or condemn them). Maybe you could “wash the feet” of homeless people by giving them a meal, even when you know they waste all their money on drugs.

There are thousands of ways to wash people’s feet, and billions of people who need their feet washed.

Open your eyes. Look around. There is pain and fear all around, just waiting for someone to wash it away. After all, “Would you have your brother too, be he, whom would be left to the way?”

This post is part of the October 2014 Synchroblog. Below is a list of other contributors. Go read them all!

 

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Paul Does Not Teach Total Depravity in Romans 3

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Romans 3 in contextYesterday we look at the context of Romans 3 to see that Paul is not teaching Total Depravity or total inability in Romans 3:9-20. Today we want to take a closer look at Romans 3:10-12 to see what Paul is really teaching in these verses. We argued briefly that Romans 3 is part of an “epistolary diatribe” against an imaginary objector.

Of course, even if one does not accept the idea that Romans is an “epistolary diatribe,” the point of Romans 3:9-20 is still the same.

In either case, Paul is saying that Jewish people have traditionally thought that as God’s elect, they existed in a privileged position before God. In a sense, Jewish people believed God needed them to carry out His plan and purposes for the world, and so even if they sinned and fell away from Him, He would eventually rescue and redeem them so that His promises to them could be fulfilled. One of Paul’s points in Romans 1–3 and 9–11 is that this is not necessarily so.

Paul Quotes from the Hebrew Bible to Prove His Point

Paul’s collection of quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures in Romans 3:10-18 is intended to show his readers that despite being the chosen people of God and having the Law and the Prophets, the Jewish people are just as guilty as the Gentiles.

Paul’s point in Romans 3:9-20 is that if the Jewish people did have a privileged position by virtue of having the “oracles of God” (Romans 3:2), then these oracles of God condemn them all as sinners, which puts them right back on equal footing with the Gentiles. Paul defends this point by quoting numerous texts from the Hebrew Scriptures which condemns them all as sinners.

Of course, Paul is not at all denying that Gentiles are sinners. To the contrary, he states in Romans 3:9 that “all” Jews and Greeks are under the power of sin. But Paul is not intending to make a statement about the universal Total Depravity of mankind. Instead, his point is that when it comes to being in right standing before God, Jews are on the same footing as Gentiles. Whatever Jews want to say of Gentiles is also true of Jews. To prove his point, Paul quotes numerous texts from the Hebrew Scriptures (Rom 3:10-18). Laurence Vance is absolutely right when he says this about Paul’s point in Romans 3:

Paul, in establishing the universal guilt of both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 3:1, 9), quotes from the Old Testament to give weight to his arguments, not to charge each individual of the human race in particular with every indictment, nor to teach the inability of the unregenerate man to believe on Jesus Christ. There is a difference between establishing the universal depravity of man and charging individual men with sins (Vance, Other Side of Calvinism, 229).

Paul Quotes from Psalm 14 (cf. Psalm 53)

It is important to note that Romans 3:10-12 are quotations from Psalm 14:1-3 (cf. also 53:1-3). Many modern people like to say that Psalm 14 and 53 are condemning atheists when the Psalmist says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Psalm 14But in the Psalmist’s day, there was no such thing as atheism. Everybody believed in a God or gods. There were, however, many people who chose to live “godless” lives, that is, to live for themselves and not serve God. They believed that God existed, but they chose to not obey Him or follow His commands. It is this sort of person that the Psalmist has in mind in Psalm 14:1 (cf. 53:1).

Therefore, the rest of the statements in Psalm 14 describe this sort of person. Psalm 14 then, is not a chapter describing the Total Depravity of all people everywhere throughout time, but rather, the specific behavior of the people who choose to live with no regard for God in their lives.

Some argue from Psalm 14:7 that this Psalm was written during Israel’s captivity, and so those who live without regard for God are the foreign captors who worship their own god but do not accept or believe in the God of Israel.

However, if this were the case, Paul would not be able to quote from Psalm 14 as a way to show that the Jews were just as guilty as the Gentiles. It seems better to understand Psalm 14 as a Psalm which calls to account those Jewish people who turned away from worshipping the God of Israel after being taken into captivity. Maybe they started worshipping foreign gods, or maybe they just decided to live without any god whatsoever.

Either way, note what the Psalmist says about these people. He does not say that they were born this way, or that they have always been this way. No, the Psalmist specifically says that they have become this way. He writes that they have “turned aside … become corrupt” (Psalm 14:3). These Jewish people have chosen to abandon the worship of the God of Israel, and have turned aside into corruption and sin.

Poetic Hyperbole in Psalm 14

Furthermore, when the entirety of Psalm 14 is read, it becomes obvious that the Psalmist is using poetic hyperbole to describe the sin into which God’s people have fallen. Just like most poets, those who wrote the Psalms often used exaggerated imagery to make their point. This is true of the author of Psalm 14 as well.

For example, Psalm 14:4 says that the workers of iniquity “eat up my people as they eat bread.” They are not literally eating God’s people; they are not cannibals. No, this is an exaggerated and poetic way of saying that these people who live without regard for God are misusing, abusing, and destroying God’s people. So also with the rest of the Psalm.

The Psalmist is not saying that these people can never do any good whatsoever at all. No, he is using poetic hyperbole to point out the error of their ways. It is likely that Paul understands this, and has the same point in mind. His quotation from Psalm 14 is not a statement about the total depravity of mankind, but a statement about how Jews too have fallen into sin, just like the Gentiles.

Ultimately, as Paul states, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). While Romans 3 does not teach Total Depravity, it does teach universal sinfulness.

People Can (and do) Seek God

Romans 3:11, often thought to be a statement about the total inability of mankind, is also balanced by the fact that it comes from the exaggerated statements of Psalm 14, and is further balanced by the numerous statements in the Bible which says that humans can and do seek God (1 Chr 16:11; 2 Chr 11:16; Lam 3:25; Isa 55:6-7; Jer 29:13; Amos 5:4).

believe in Jesus

Furthermore, it is critical to remember that one does not gain eternal life by seeking God, but by believing in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47), which all people can do, for along with humanity’s ability to seek God, Jesus seeks after people (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10), and in doing so, calls on all to believe in Him for eternal life. Many do not seek God, not because they cannot, but because they are proud and refuse to seek him (Psalm 10:4).

So by way of summary, Romans 3:9-20 does not teach Total Depravity or total inability.

While the chapter can be used to teach the universal sinfulness of humanity, the real point of this section of Paul’s letter is to show that the Jewish people are on equal footing before God with the Gentiles.

There is no privileged position before God, not special status as God’s chosen people. Jewish people are sinful just like Gentile people. Both are equally in need of God’s righteous deliverance, which He offers freely to all through Jesus Christ.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

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Is Paul teaching Calvinism in Romans 3:10-12?

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Romans 3 and CalvinismOf all the various texts used to defend the Calvinistic teaching on Total Depravity, Romans 3:9-20 is one of the most popular (another being Ephesians 2:1-3). Rather than quote the entire passage, a few select verses from the beginning of this section are representative of the whole.

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12).

It is not difficult to see why these texts are popular among Calvinistic defenders of Total Depravity. The text clearly teaches that nobody is righteous or does any good, which sounds like Total Depravity, and that nobody understands or seeks after God, which seems to infer total inability.

Below are a few quotes from Calvinists on Romans 3:9-20.

The text … moves in a remarkable way from the general to the specific. Not only does it say there is none righteous, but it says there is none who does any good, no, not one. We are not considered unrighteous because the dross of sin is mixed together with our goodness. The indictment against us is more radical: in our corrupt humanity we never do a single good thing (Sproul, Grace Unknown, 120).

According to Romans 3, no one unaided by God 1) has any righteousness by which to lay a claim upon God, 2) has any true understanding of God, or 3) seeks God (Boice and Ryken, Doctrines of Grace, 79).

Romans 3:9-10 does not teach Total Depravity

Despite these sorts of statements from Calvinists, Romans 3:9-20 does not actually teach either Total Depravity or total inability. While Romans 3:9-20 does teach that all are sinners (cf. Romans 3:23), the overall context of this passage must be understood in light of the progression of Paul’s argument if we are to grasp his point.

In other words, though this passage does seem to defend both Total Depravity and total inability when quoted out of context, when studied in its context the passage teaches something else entirely (See Campbell, The Deliverance of God).

To fully grasp the argument, a complete analysis of Paul’s entire letter would be necessary. But since that is impossible to do here, let me try to just point out a few of the highlights.

Context of Romans 3

Romans Is Not about How to Go to Heaven When you Die

First of all, it is critical to note that the overall message of Romans is not about justification or how to receive eternal life. In other words, Romans is not primarily directed toward unbelievers. Instead, the message of Romans is primarily directed toward believers, and specifically, how they can live and function as followers of Jesus who live according to the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16-17).

In Romans, “Salvation” is about Deliverance from the Temporal Consequences of Sin NOW

Related to this, it is important to note that “salvation” in Romans is not about how to go to heaven when you die, but about the salvation (or deliverance) that God provides to believers.

Lots of people think that Romans is just about how “unsaved” people can get “justification” so they can go to heaven when they die. But this approach to Romans doesn’t really know what to do with Romans 9–11 when Paul seems to suddenly switch gears and start talking about God’s covenant with Israel.

However, if we understand that Paul is primarily writing to believers and instructing them about the deliverance available to them in this life, then Romans 9–11 becomes immediately applicable, for Paul uses the example of Israel to show what happens when God’s people do not live by faith, and as a result, are not delivered.

And don’t think that Paul is threatening believers with hell. Hell is nowhere in Paul’s discussion in Romans (not even in the phrase “the wrath of God”).

So when Paul writes what he does in Romans 3:9-20, he is writing a warning to believers in Rome about becoming proud of their privileged position before God. In this section of Romans, Paul is pointing out that all people are on equal footing before God. There is no privileged position.

In Romans, Paul uses “Epistolary Diatribe” to Make His Point… (What?)

Third, and related to this, it is critical to understand exactly how Paul goes about making his argument. He is using specific rhetorical rules from the first century called epistolary diatribe argumentation.

What does that mean?

Paul didn’t just sit down and write Romans based on whatever he wanted to say. No, in writing Romans, Paul followed a set pattern and structure which was quite common in the first century for when scholars, philosophers, and teachers wanted to refute the ideas of an opponent.

A large part of this diatribe structure involved quoting the ideas and words of your opponent so that you might then turn around and refute them. This means that some of the statements in Romans which have traditionally been attributed to Paul are actually the ideas and statements from an opponent of Paul, whom Paul quotes so that he can then refute those ideas (See Campbell, The Deliverance of God).

So Romans 3 is not exactly a continuation of Paul’s own argument and logic, but rather, a continuation of the argument Paul is having with an imaginary objector.

In other words, Romans 3:9-20 is part of Paul’s rebuttal of an opponent, not a continuation of his own argument. In this way, Paul’s collection of quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures in Romans 3:10-18 is intended to show his objector that despite being the chosen people of God and having the Law and the Prophets, the Jewish people are just as guilty as the Gentiles.

Romans context of Romans 3Up to this point, Paul’s objector was trying to argue that only the Gentiles were guilty, and that the Jewish people had a privileged status before God. Paul’s point in Romans 3:9-20 is that if the Jewish people did have a privileged position by virtue of having the “oracles of God” (Romans 3:2), then these oracles of God condemn them all as sinners, which puts them right back on equal footing with the Gentiles.

In Romans 3:9-20, Paul defends this point by quoting numerous texts from the Hebrew Scriptures which condemns them all as sinners.

So far, we have only really looked at the context of Romans 3. Tomorrow, we will discuss what Paul is saying in Romans 3. Until then, what do you think about the context of Romans 3 as laid out above? Has anybody read that book by Campbell? What do you think of it?

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

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Because the Bible Tells Me So… or does it?

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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, 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, mostly 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.

In 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 most 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. 

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 logical 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 in 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,  what sort of issues do you have with Scripture? Do you think that the 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!

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