God is just another word for magic. Simply, the method yields divergent knowings, perhaps even a different sin of certainty. James KA Smiths Desiring the Kingdom. With the exact same merit. Such a person in fact believes Him to exist in Parts. On the contrary, I have never been disappointed by God. Government, College of Arts and Sciences/Public Policy, Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Enns seeks to grow us in maturity so that we might take up wisdom. Could it well be that this spiritual sense is very prone to illusion as well? OT . But our access to the world of the Spirit is made possible by the existence of our own spirit. A Review by Norman Geisler of Peter Enns's, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids . 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). How sure are you that those are eyewitness accounts. The Bible (NT and OT) both contain stories of humans having doubt while also trusting God (Elijah, Peter, Thomas, hell, all of them for that matter). Some have thought it to be evasiveness. In addition, he late dates the Exodus in the mid . Yet how is this testimony for more than such kind of belief being an adaptive trait? We also know how it may be tricked to produce the illusion of say motion or scale that is not really there. I dont think God would. 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. Therefore, that which is felt or known by the senses, having shape and colour, cannot be God. Maybe dramatically more so? Every compound elements etc possesses shape and colour that attracts the senses. 254). 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. Knowing God is a life-long participation. Peter Enns (Ph.D., Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of biblical studies at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Which then opens up the question of what reality it what knowing we are engaged in. I get that I cant prove or disprove God or any God or really anything non-material thats at least logically consistent. Instead of humbly stating this belief as an opinion, Joker3857 blatantly says "then dont be one". ". Im trying to think through/explore this. Per the books blurb, The Sin of Certainty models an acceptance of mystery and paradox that all believers can follow and why God prefers this path because it is only this way by which we can become mature disciples who truly trust God.. However, as my 5th grade social studies book (circa ~1958) commented on Islam, Muslims converted North Africa at the edge of the sword. JFK probably did not comment much on his Catholicism because at that time there remained a significant amount of anti-Catholic bigotry in our country. Or the mega church movement, to try and get and sustain even a greater Jesus high. here s something about the bible of the peter enns June 1st, 2020 - think about that the old testament of the new testament writers and of the early church was a translation and an imperfect one at that you d think at key moment of god s self disclosure ten things i hate about church and why i go anyway Here in this comment thread, we havent really talked about the latter. Now one can doubt that the man, Peter ever lived, but there are extra-biblical references to him as being the head of the church. I do not think the gospel stands on whether we can read Paul's Adam in the . But what we can do is employ language to describe those deep experiences in a way to see if we are alone in them or if there are other people who in the way they respond hint at having had the same shared experience as us. Youre still rooting your argument in the same notion of the proper locus of religious conviction. Basis for my response: 2 Peter 1:15 to 2 Peter 2:2. We go crazy in solitary confinement, when stranded on an island, when lost in the wilderness solo. Try the works of John Hick, former Evangelical who became a fascinating philosopher of religion and sought a common transcendental basis for them all. Dr. Peter Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, PA. I think there is a model there where the subjective, but real experience of God is the starting point for understanding the perceptual equipment, which will help us to acknowledge the existence of a real Being that makes the subjective states or experiences real. Historically, I understand the Mystics predate the Enlightenment or Modernity, but I think it was Friedrich Schleiermacher who cut a swath through the rough underbrush of Empiricism to find a spiritual path that was immediate and subjective. 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. And there is no one way to come to belief or faith in God, and in Christ our Savior. And it seems that these books coming out by Evangelicals who are now more tentative or moderate or courageously admitting they have doubts are a bit disingenuous, since they all seem to rely on being certain that the God of the Christian Bible exists regardless of ones doubts. I have written on Peter Enns before on our blog (see the link in the analysis to Evans' book) but seeing his name again led me to look up Enns and I found he wrote a recent piece on his blog titled "How Can I Trust the Bible . . Yet since these experiences come across as transcendent many put a higher truth value on them than anything else in life. It isnt about intellectual knowing and many people butcher Christianity when they think it is Im afraid. This is a dangerous and unbiblical attitude. Im loosely affiliated with an international church (evangelical) in Beijing; and it is quite stark to me here how the Western mind (American in particular) shapes and engages with Christian faith. Thanks for this post. ~ Jackson Browne. That instead, my friend needed to see realia like a man in a soviet prison who goes to the very cell wall and taps a message in morse. Polls, Statistics and other Data To conclude, I'd like to quote Enns one more time. He has taught courses at several other institutions including Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. And now my 800 words are up. Frank Schaeffer is an interesting fellow, son of the Apologist Francis Schaeffer, and co-founder with his dad and other prominent Evangelicals in the 1970s of Americas Religious Right and also the Right to Life Movement. I like the fruit of this way of knowingeverything from electricity and medicine to electron-microscopesand radio telescopes. Incarceration Nation That is what He did for me over 50 years ago. Love, compassion, empathy, etc. 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. Read Nondiscrimination Policy. There is no external mention of the writing until Origen in the 3rd century. Some come by more rational means, others emotional, others mystical, Who am I, or you, to say any one way is the right way. I have met lifelong atheists who never got high on Jesus in their youth like you or I did. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Adam and Eve are the Bible's first man and first woman. What are you reading good Sir, that I may know too? Christian mysticism should . Reason and sagacity cannot visualise Him. This way of knowing, too, is a pluralistic way of knowing and can be reflected upon both with and without special pleading. 3. I love nothing more than learning about peoples stories and would love to learn more about yours. 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. 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. and Ph.D. Harvard University http://www.al-islam.org/tradition-myrobalan-fruit-hadith-al-halila-imam-jafar-al-sadiq/hadith. Perhaps its ones urge for drinking mothers milk when one is first born (who gave you a mother? 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. What should be the impact? As for your books title, The Sin of Certainty, you seem pretty certain that sin exists, though I suspect humans dont really need thatll added theological term since it seems more like a metaphor for any selfish behavior people of all religions or none already view in a negative fashion. . ), and you certainly dont hear much about divorce, suicide longing It does though offer means to consider qualitative differences. Many miss it here because they want to be in control of any such relationship. When a European team of scientists and an American team and a Chinese team run an experiment, the results are consistent. Matthew 13:52. 1300 Eagle Road I use the words intelligent and basis. The question presumes that belief in God is something to be settled on the basis of intelligence, education, knowledge of facts, etc. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where "'the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.' 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. We're raising 50k for our campaign. But is that version of a Messiah a bringer of healing to all? Peter Enns is Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. And it is that faith that is pleasing to God, and further that faith is a gift from God in the first place. He is also co-founder and chief data scientist at Verasight. I think you are conflating your own journey with mine. Differing, I believe there are grounds for excluding ones own or other faiths. M Now to consider these values a bit, we can exercise some examples. [pp. Yep. Christianity is already becoming irrelevant to the younger millennials. Also, be sure to read the book rather than a blurb to see what I am after. And there are child-rearing costs to and constraints concerning size of head vs. size of pelvis. 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. Like someone is running for political office. When you know something by means of such encounter, you may not be able to express it verbally, at least not in a compelling, coherent, or exhaustive manner. 75-76]. Thankfully it is much less today. Only if he means it in the wooden empiricist sense. The Spirit? Theists believe magic is real. This implies that Joker3857 believes that one cannot be a christian if they think the bible to have errors. There can be various degrees of certainty, of course. Thanks for posting this. What are your thoughts on passages like 1 John 5:13, which indicate explicitly that it is possible for a person to know with rational certainty whether or not there is a God and whether or not they can truly believe in Jesus being the Messiah. From this, I have a question for you; isnt it also completely reasonable (and rational) to look at the fruits of other peoples experience to see that their belief and faith are grounded in the truth? He speaks actively in academic and ecclesiastical venues on topics pertaining the Bible and Christian faith. Scientists tend to understand everything through the lens of our basic five senses which reside in our body and soul. Indeed, it is a way of knowing that has been championed as part of the development of culture in the Western tradition, but to pigeon hole the method as somehow distinctively Western is to lose something about its universality in a universe that significantly appears to exhibit fundamental uniformity. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit 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. Instead it looks like people have a wide variety of reality tunnels and interpretations. On what basis is God still an option for you?. Tweets at @peteenns. Joyfully I can say that as a conservative Presbyterian, some of my closest friends are devout Roman Catholics. Im not certain as to where youre taking your evolutionary train of thought. Havent found much written on it. Now I understand that that rational certainty is a gift from God, but would you say that 1 John 5:13 is false or irrational or not to be trusted? Intelligence, understanding and attainment cannot attain the depth of knowledge to study or scrutinise the Godhead. Peter Enns Height He is a man of above-average stature. 1. 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. Legitttttttt. Were two thousand years in. This happens not in our mind, but in our spirit. . Introduction: This article will be on the subject of God's wrath and retribution. Do you know many others like yourselves? Peter is 61 years old. The more I learn about the cosmos and humanitys journey of understanding it, the more the term evidence seems to be an oxymoron. I think about that question a lot. Here's the heart of it: 'Westminster Theological Seminary's board voted to suspend tenured professor Peter Enns last week after a two-year theological debate over his 2005 book, Inspiration and Incarnation. In asking does God exist?, Ive heard it said that two very large questions are revealed or not. Meaning external, physical evidence. Read Dr. Enns full CV, B.S. He has not permitted human mind to grasp the Essence of His Being **YET** He has not prevented them from realising His Presence. We dont have the tools to give up what makes sense to us without putting up ideological fences and safety nets around everything. M.Div. Thanks for this insight. Concepts of God can propel or retard in this context. 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. Let God alone if need be. straight into the night our hearts were flung But what is your source of the claim that God prefers paradox and mystery? The western way of knowing privileges the observation and analysis/testingofexternal evidence by knowledgable, experienced, and educated people who make arguments and defend them. Peter K. Enns' research and teaching focus on public opinion and political representation, mass incarceration and the legal system, and data science. Just dont mistakethis as an argument for Gods existence. Its just where my thinking process is. And I would suggest this hypothetical is realized in all actuality within spiritual perception. The reason many do not talk more about these issues are beyond me (I say that knowing that many do in fact talk about these tensions Pete is one of them). 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. Interesting Beau, thanks. You never know, He might answer you in a marvelous and loving way. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 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). Presume? It is in this context, that Christianity, for me, is a profound disappointment. The more one believes as many as true things as possible about reality and as few of false things as possible about reality enables one to better understand the nature of the challenge, the tools available, and realistic hopes about ground to be gained, next and within the scope of a lifetime. The human mind cannot think alone. As I see it, knowledge ofGod accesses different ways of knowing. that Christians suffer like everyone else. He is also co-founder and chief . As is knowledge of Allah. I think the Mystics have something important to say. Praying is not the same as imposing a religion on others. So same with spiritual experiences. The universal and self-evident problem of death. When people insist that the Apostles Creed is where you have to start, its no wonder that you wind up with some people who dont believe in God and other people who dont believe in the World. attestations that Lincoln composed the Gettysburg Address. 298 . 2 Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; Thats why all we need to focus on is the Way; which is your way that youre honestly seeking God. Maybe more so than that of our sense perception of sight? I think the fruit are the realities that a religion has caused to create. I know others mileage may vary. Probably a different version of God I would presume. Even Yale was founded by some conservative ministers displeased at the growing moderation, liberalism and theological excesses as they say it, happening at Havard. wouldnt it be more appropriate to say that its possibly an I witness account..the sin of certainty. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 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. Mitchel Modine. The Christian scriptures are clear that we can indeed experience God if we respond to Him when He calls us. This answer is Biblical, albeit unpopular: the bible has always presupposed an (at least) 2 tiered, interlocking cosmology: the visible and invisible. Most people who are not believers are not believers because this side has so much certainty over things that we should not be saying we have so much certainty over.
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