The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It [Paperback]

The controversial Bible scholar and author ofThe Evolution of Adamrecounts his transformative spiritual journey in which he discovered a new, more honest way to love and appreciate God’s Word.

Trained as an evangelical Bible scholar, Peter Enns loved the Scriptures and shared his devotion, teaching at Westminster Theological Seminary. But the further he studied the Bible, the more he found himself confronted by questions that could neither be answered within the rigid framework of his religious instruction or accepted among the conservative evangelical community.

Rejecting the increasingly complicated intellectual games used by conservative Christians to “protect” the Bible, Enns was conflicted.Is this what God really requires? How could God’s plan for divine inspiration mean ignoring what is really written in the Bible?These questions eventually cost Enns his job—but they also opened a new spiritual path for him to follow.

The Bible Tells Me Sochronicles Enns’s spiritual odyssey, how he came to see beyond restrictive doctrine and learned to embrace God’s Word as it is actually written. As he explores questions progressive evangelical readers of Scripture commonly face yet fear voicing, Enns reveals that they are the very questions that God wants us to consider—the essence of our spiritual study.

What Do You Do When the Bible Doesn't Behave?

The central thesis of this book is unassailable our preoccupation with defending the Bible has blinded us from seeing what it actually says. With clarity, insight, wisdom, and humor, Pete Enns helps restore our sight, enabling us to encounter the Word of God afresh in our time. In so doing, he has offered a faithful witness not only to the words of scripture, but also to the God revealed in its pages. -John R. Franke, executive director and professor of missional theology, Yellowstone Theological Institute