Ep. 20: What Is the Bible? with Dr. Pete Enns
Show Notes
Episode Summary
Most of us who are raised evangelical are taught 3 things about the Bible: 1. that it’s the Word of God; 2. that it’s inerrant (i.e., without error); and 3. that a “plain and simple” reading of it contains all the truth humankind will ever need. But what if none of those things is true? What is the Bible then? How do we read it if not from a literal, inerrant framework? And what place is it supposed to have in our lives? We talk with biblical scholar, author, and host of The Bible for Normal People podcast, Dr. Pete Enns, about what the Bible is and isn’t and how there are other faithful frameworks for approaching it despite what we’ve been taught.
Bio
Dr. Peter Enns is the Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University. He received his PhD from Harvard University and has taught undergraduate, seminary, and doctoral courses at numerous other schools, including Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and Temple University. He speaks and writes regularly at peteenns.com about the intersection of the ancient setting of the Bible and contemporary Christian faith, is the host of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People, and has written, edited, and contributed to over 20 books, including The Sin of Certainty, The Bible Tells Me So, and most recently How the Bible Actually Works. Dr. Enns resides in suburban Philadelphia with his wife Susan.
Follow Pete on Instagram and Twitter (@peteenns). Listen to his podcast, The Bible for Normal People, and find it on Instagram.
Quotables
“I’ve come to see the Bible as a means of grace, a means by which we can commune with God.” (tweet this)
“Within the Bible itself, you see people disagreeing with each other. It seems that the Bible is encouraging us to continue that mindset of trying to figure the God question out.” (tweet this)
“I think the Bible is designed to make sure we never turn it into that one-stop shop for questions we have that gives us quick answers.” (tweet this)
“When you have a Bible that’s an ironclad, not-to-be-argued-with rulebook, when you start reading it carefully, you’re going to run into some problems.” (tweet this)
“It’s actually God who is life-giving, it’s not the Bible.” (tweet this)
“The Bible only traumatizes people when it’s approached a certain way.” (tweet this)
“Life experience can show us that we’re very limited in our knowledge, and we don’t have to have perfect knowing in order to have relationship with God.” (tweet this)
“It never dawned on the biblical writers to ask some of the questions that we have to ask today.” (tweet this)
“How do we have a conversation between our own moment and this ancient witness of Scripture? That’s called theology, and it’s not easy to do, but that’s the gift.” (tweet this)
“Our hope is actually in God and not in our understanding of the Bible. Those two things aren’t the same.” (tweet this)
“Moving away from reading the Bible literally takes the safety net that we’ve created out from under us and says, ‘Here you go! Are you going to trust God or aren’t you?’” (tweet this)
Timestamps and References
[05:25]—Dr. Enns’ thoughts on what the Bible is and what we should do with it
[11:45]—How we turned the Bible into a one-stop shop for quick answers (i.e., came to be seen as inerrant)
[17:59]—Dr. Enns talks about how we might read the Bible if we don’t read it literally and authoritatively
[23:13]—Addressing the idea of “divine inspiration” and talking with people who appeal to God’s power for believing certain things about the Bible
[28:16]—What is the essence of the Bible if it’s not what we were taught?
[32:40]—Why calling things “biblical” doesn’t always work
[37:48]—Responding to people who need to cling to the idea that there is only one way to interpret the Bible
[44:10]—How moving from an oral tradition to a written one changed our perception of Scripture
[48:45]—Where Dr. Enns finds hope
[52:15]—Fun Rapid Fire questions
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Credits
This episode was produced by The Sophia Society. Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.
