I have referred, on several occasions, to the work of Richard Bauckham on Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. In that book Bauckham sets out a range of evidence in support of his view that the four Gospels are based very largely on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and therefore should be regarded as having a high index of historical reliability.
Writing in the 2nd edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (art. ‘Historicisms and Historiography’), J.…
Why is it that some Christian scholars engage in what James Barr called ‘maximal conservatism’? Why is it that, according to Peter Enns, evangelical Christians are far too ready to ‘defend’ the Bible against ‘attacks’ on its (supposed) moral uprightness, historical accuracy, and theological consistency? Why is it that Kenton Sparks feels the need to accuse evangelical biblical scholars of giving the impression that they accept all the tools of critical scholarship while, on the other hand, blithely insisting that the use of these tools, ‘when properly used’, must uphold their own predetermined views about the Bible does, and does not, teach?…
Enns, Peter (2014). The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
I offer a summary of some of the book’s main points, and then an assessment.
The Bible, says Enns, presents us with at least three kinds of problem:-
I have written several posts that support the essential historicity of the events that are recorded in Mark’s Gospel (no less than those that are recorded in the other three Gospels).
I have found it interesting, however, to consider the views of Robert M. Price (one of the contributors to The Historical Jesus: Five Views), who takes the polar opposite view. For Price, the ‘events’ recorded in Mark’s Gospel (no less that the others) have virtually no basis in history, but were invented by the Christian community on the basis of their reading of (what we call) the Old Testament scriptures.…
Was the notion of a dying and rising Saviour, as recorded in the canonical Gospels, derived from pagan myths concerning the Canaanite god Baal, the Phoenician god Adonis, the Egyptian god Osiris, and others? This view was first popularised by J. G. Frazer in The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Religion (first published in 1890). Frazer thought that he had discovered a universal core in religion – a myth about a dying and rising fertility god, along with associated rituals – and this idea was taken up by some others, including Joseph Campbell.…
Referring back to an old (1925) and neglected article by Cuthbert Taylor, Richard Bauckham (Jesus and the Eyewitnesses) notes that there are twenty-one instances of a narrative device in Mark’s Gospel that invite attention. This is a device in which switches, slightly awkwardly, from third-person plural to third-person singular. Here are some examples:-
Mk 5:1f – ‘They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat .…
At first glance, the lists of Jesus’ disciples (Matt 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; see also Acts 1:13) seem simply to introduce some of the key players in the story. But these lists probably serve a more specific purpose, especially given that about half of the characters named in the lists are never named again in the Gospels. So this more specific function of the lists of disciples is that they display continuity between Jesus and the early Christian community, and provide the latter with reassurance about the overall shape and content of Jesus ministry that could only come from those who had closely associated with him. …
1. Why didn’t Jesus go straight to heaven when he rose from the dead?
2. In how many ways could the following sentence be completed:- ‘Because Jesus has ascended to heaven, we know that…’
3. If Christ’s followers are not supposed to be standing looking into the sky (Acts 1:11), what are we supposed to be doing, according to this passage? And why do we need power (verse 8) to do this?…
In Acts 4:36f it is recorded that a man named Joseph, who was a Levite from Cyprus, sold a field that the owned and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet. For this generous action, and for various others, he was dubbed ‘Barnabas’, meaning ‘Son of Encouragement’. Acts 11:23 gives another example of his ministry of encouragement. Furthermore,
On publication in 2005, Peter Enns’ book Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament caused quite a stir. It led, eventually, to his departure from his post as professor at Westminster Theological Seminary.
What was the fuss all about?
The main thesis of the book is that evangelicals need to take more seriously the human aspects of Old Testament. Enns identifies three areas for exploration.
We need, says Enns, to recognise that the literature of the Old Testament has much in common with other literature from the Ancient Near East. …
