Nielsen’s Nook

Nielsen’s Nook
Nielsen’s Nook
Contemplative, reflective, and irenic we pray.
Print Print

Dr. Peter Enns Interviewed by WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane

Will Nielsen
August 13th, 2008
Tags: • • • • • • •
No Comments

Dr. Peter Enns, former all-star professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, was interviewed at 10:00 am (Central) today by Public Radio WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane.

Dr. Enns’ now infamous and scholarly (and dare I say it … pastoral) book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament seeks to approach difficulties in the Old Testament (e.g., two drastically different Hebrew Manuscripts of Jeremiah) and in terms of the Incarnation. Ultimately, Dr. Enns seeks to uphold the mystery of the divine and human union of Scripture as the basis for its trustworthiness in faith and practice.

Dr. Enns blogs at a time to tear down | A Time to Build Up.
Listen to the interview with WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane:

[Download]

Addendum:

About 41 minutes in, an atheist caller named Jim calls and makes the statement that if he would have had the paradigm of scripture that is presented in Inspiration and Incarnation, he wonders if that would not have saved his faith. Pete does a very pastoral job of encouraging Jim toward the God revealed in the Bible.

Print Print

Translation and Commentary on Hebrews 1:10

Will Nielsen
April 7th, 2008
Tags: • • • • • •
2 Comments »

Translation

10 And

“You, O Lord, laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning, [1] and the heavens are the work of your hands. [2]

Commentary

[1] κατʼ ἀρχάς is not a direct quote of the Creation account in Genesis 1:1 LXX (Ἐν ἀρχῇ); however, this is clearly what is in view conceptually.

[2] The use of metaphor (foundations) and anthropomorphism (preincarnate hands) underscore the incarnational nature of scripture in which God demonstrates with iterative mercy his love for us in condescending to us. He is not beyond even mythic language to reveal himself to the world. In other words, we don’t believe that God took out a divine trowel, after pouring cosmic concrete, and smoothed out the bottom layer of a flat earth. Scripture is not teaching that. What scripture is teaching is that 1) the Triune God made all  that is, and 2) as such, He (specifically here - the Son) has ultimate authority, lordship, over all things. For an engaging discussion of the nature of God’s loving condescension to us in scripture see, Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation.

View blog authority