If He was visible to the eye, and perceivable to the senses, He would have resembled the things that are visible and perceivable to the senses on account of their being compound and created and in that case He would no longer have remained a creator. Im still working on itof course. This blog was first posted in March 2016. That said, I can see the contemplative Hindu or Buddhist saying the exact same thing. This happens not in our mind, but in our spirit. That said, I can see the contemplative Hindu or Buddhist saying the exact same thing. Hi, Reddit! Some people live with more uncertainty than you do. So 2 Peter was written by Peter.how sure are you on that? And it would be wise to recognize that I think. Perhaps its ones urge for drinking mothers milk when one is first born (who gave you a mother? . that Christians suffer like everyone else. Pete Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania, and co-host of The Bible for Normal People podcast. Adam and Eve are the Bible's first man and first woman. It is in this context, that Christianity, for me, is a profound disappointment. All this is to say, I am not ready to leave the hope and realism of modernity behind yet, but if I do it wont be atheism. In these chapters God fashions "the man" (ha adam) from earth (adamah), breathes life into his nostrils, and makes him a caretaker . 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. and Ph.D. Harvard University Instead only their book features inspired writingsthe truth and stories necessary to believe, and of course conservatives, moderates and liberals differ concerning what that book really means or what the most essential and necessary lessons are. 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. ~ Jackson Browne. What are you reading good Sir, that I may know too? In passing, he also makes a very interesting observation about contemporary Protestant theology: "I live in an ecclesial world in which those who value Christian orthodoxy as a concept seem invariably to drift towards either Rome or Constantinople or some amalgamation of the two which is represented by no existing church. Then once that person starts walking with God God (should) will reveal the truth to them. I'm attaching my 6 page summary of Peter Enns' new book, Genesis for Normal People: Enns on Genesis.doc (55.5 KB) Dr. Enns attempts to simply explain for average Christians how many scholars read Genesis. There is an even less certain, less dogmatic, less religious, kind of trust. Enns prefers this approach because it supports his view of Adam as proto-Israel (107) and maintains an Israel-centered focus rather than a universal one (106). For those who hold the view that the Bible contains an ever-expanding revelation of the truth and knowledge of God from beginning to end, what is to be taken away from your article? wouldnt it be more appropriate to say that its possibly an I witness account..the sin of certainty. Previously he was a Senior Fellow of . One task that gives me great joy is to introduce students to the big picture of the biblical story and to develop insight and respect for how the Old and New Testaments are in conversation with each other. I'm an author and biblical scholar. The intersection of these (with a lot of other stuff thrown in there for good measure, such as Barths furious response to 19th century liberals on issues related to mediated/unmediated experience) was very compelling in my theological studies and has been fascinating to observe on a practical level in pastoral ministry in the conservative south, especially in this political and cultural moment. Evidence used that way is a foundationalist dead end, but thats not the only way of interpreting Experience, of which scientific experiments are one kind. Relationship is key, whether we are thinking about non-living parts of the cosmos, the living world, human-human relationships or human-divine relationships. His research and teaching focus on public opinion and political representation, mass incarceration and the legal system, and data science. I also would want to point out that the Christian religion has to do with a person named Jesus (as christians we believe this Jesus is still transforming lives and hes on the loose), in other words it is not just a simple have faith or belief The Christian faith is a living trust that Jesus Christ (messiah) will rescue (has will in the future) the world for a global renewal (earth and heaven). 1. The Bible does not say Flood was universal (55). 4 And there is none **like** unto Him. Thanks for this insight. He has taught courses at several other institutions including Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Open your eyes to what there is to see, or let Jesus open them for you (Mark 8, by daubing mud) and I theres not that much problem. Id suggest that this is even true among the authors of Scripture and with general trends by the centuries as well as across Fowlers stages of faith as well as by denomination and religion. This is historically what the Church has always taught. It was first proposed by the unorthodox church Father, Origen (ca. Thatjust doesnt work for me. Personally, I talk to God, make intercession, and he orchestrates reality beyond the sphere of my influence or capability to manipulate the results. Are you willing to also consider; Hindu scriptures, Muslim scriptures, Buddhist, scriptures, Taoists scriptures, etc? With the exact same merit. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. ), having that preverbal felt sense of wonder, well-being & delight, sitting in the little Cave of flesh of oneself, hearing the birds twittering in spring sunshine for the first time, the thrill of having learned ones ABCs and the letters becoming words & the words becoming sentences when one is 6 years old, the gift and thrill of ones sexuality(Intense pleasure!) And there are child-rearing costs to and constraints concerning size of head vs. size of pelvis. Legitttttttt. And look to see if theyre shared. I am married and trust my wife but like anything, marriage is a complete trust that the other person will be faithful (for better or worse) we live in the tensions of trusting people everyday (even strangers we do not know who drive vehicles). I am not sure that is the name. Such as I would imagine the Eastern Orthodox who are known for such practice and perspective on faith. Adam's name appears first in Genesis 1 with a collective sense, as "mankind"; subsequently in Genesis 2-3 it carries the definite article ha, equivalent to English "the", indicating that this is "the man". What I have noticed especially in connection with your point about knowing God outside of our default rationalism, Pete, is that both as a church and as individual Christians in the West, we find it difficult knowing how to spend time in silence, or in solitude, away from our faith projects or church systems. Read Nondiscrimination Policy. Thanks Pete, I expressed my full view in a direct response above. We know by comparing our own, internal, subjective experiences of sight that this is a largely reliable sense. If labels have to be used, I wonder if you would identify, or at least sympathize, with igtheism, which holds that every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God. So if you want to write a book that really speaks about accepting uncertainty you have not done so. transrational I would take as examples of this people such as Jesus and the profound impact on the entire world for the good, that his truth has produced, and by extension, His Apostles and their experience. Peter is 61 years old. In other words, I dont believe in God because I see no evidence for God or I believe in God because the evidence proves it are both nonsensical claims for me.. And I am not sure about the analogy concerning trusting your wife, unless you wake up everyday lying literally next to a flesh and blood Jesus who literally speaks with you or even makes you breakfast some mornings. Great Value. Like someone is running for political office. These failures in relationships (failure to relate, especially failure to love) are far more damaging than our many failures to understand, our sessions of doubt or even our failures to understand how we know. As is our collaborative aspects of the scientific method. Westminster Theological Seminary Try the works of John Hick, former Evangelical who became a fascinating philosopher of religion and sought a common transcendental basis for them all. But one alternative is to have a church, mosque, and a Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu temple, close together on every corner with no ones sign larger or higher than the rest, to remind ourselves we can indeed all truly get along. What gives? Or the mega church movement, to try and get and sustain even a greater Jesus high. How have we regressed so far in 56 years? One, what does God mean? And there is no one way to come to belief or faith in God, and in Christ our Savior. Peter Enns Age He was born on January 2, 1961, in Passaic, New Jersey, in the United States. There are multiple (a lot!) I want to be like you. What about more recent writings such as the Gettysburg Address? I only presume that peoples experiences of God are a mixed bag that lay along a very wide spectrum. These are subjective, private experiences. Although, both people and God can be disappointing in ways myself included. If there is still to be a link to truth there at all. Also check out The Inner Eye of Love by a Jesuit named William Johnson, or try books by Dom Bede Griffiths, a fellow convert with C. S. Lewis but who spent his life in India dialoguing with people of other religions. Magic is not real. Fideism is a rich and credible approach to knowing God. Some people really like what I say. Some people really hate what I say--and I've lost a couple of jobs because of my views. We dont know how to break down the ideologies of our false identities or how to welcome others with conflicting ideologies or identities. Peter Enns Quotes. Here's where the money is going! One of the things I wonder is how these two general groups not talk past each other. You are presuming that I am naive about other religions. I mean, youre already done this with respect to Christian Mystics. He has taught extensively at the seminary and doctoral levels (Westminster Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, Fuller Theological Seminary, Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Biblical Theological Seminary) and on the undergraduate level (Temple University and Messiah College). How do you know these are HIS words? The other day he wrote a post that he entitled Why I Don't Believe in God Anymore. No matter how much you imagine or try. R'eyes via Compfight Peter Enns is the master at creating blog titles that are both clever and provocative. The Christian scriptures are clear that we can indeed experience God if we respond to Him when He calls us. 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. Instead it looks like people have a wide variety of reality tunnels and interpretations. Origen and universalism, in general, were condemned as unorthodox at the Fifth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553) . He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. Redemption to a broken world? 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). Mitchel Modine is an Old Testament scholar who works at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary. Were two thousand years in. I think there are multiple reality tunnels and people make many different claims concerning their personal experiences. 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 To me there is a sacred goodness in characteristics of the way and Christianitys wins over the centuries are attributable to this. It may be a way of knowing, but not necessarily yielding as many as true things as possible and as few as false things as possible. And what religion, denomination, sect or cult doesnt seek to inculcate a sense of trust and intimacy toward its depictions of God, holy prophets or holy writings? But lacking a definitive first hand revelation of God and with all of your questions, at what point does one cease asking yet more questions, and perhaps start to view all religions as limited expressions or interpretations of God like prof. of religious philosophy John Hick eventually did after growing up Evangelical? In other words, I dont believe in God because I see no evidence for God or I believe in God because the evidence proves it are both nonsensical claims for me. Pseudo-Solomon and His Scripture: Biblical Interpretation in the Wisdom of Solomon,, The Contribution of Ecclesiastes to Biblical Theology,. Theists believe magic is real. Forced love . And I would suggest this hypothetical is realized in all actuality within spiritual perception. 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. At Eastern Since 2012. On another point, both in Johns writings and Peters writings there are statements of eye-witness testimonies. Presume? In both stories, the boat comes to rest on a mountain and birds are sent out to find land. Dr. Peter Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, PA. He is a former Senior Fellow of Biblical Studies for BioLogos and author of many books and commentaries, including Inspiration and Incarnation, The Evolution of Adam, and The Bible Tells Me So.His most recent book is The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs. Call it a transcendental trust like Thoreau had, or like John Hick in our own day. Every compound elements etc possesses shape and colour that attracts the senses. We go crazy in solitary confinement, when stranded on an island, when lost in the wilderness solo. Joyfully I can say that as a conservative Presbyterian, some of my closest friends are devout Roman Catholics. Why the need to respond ? Differing, I believe there are grounds for excluding ones own or other faiths. God is just another word for magic. Agnostics cant figure it out. Interesting article. He is also co-founder and chief data scientist at Verasight. He is the Robert S. Harrison Director of the Cornell Center for Social Sciences and Executive Director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Perhaps even the characteristics on the other-way-of-knowing list are not beyond study. People who call others incredibly stupid and foolish beyond measure for not sharing their own religious positions ought to take a look in the mirror. 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