Peter Enns, a theologian and professor at Eastern University, shares his transformative journey from a strict Evangelical upbringing to a more nuanced understanding of the Bible. He discusses the emotional turmoil and academic experiences that fueled his faith deconstruction, highlighting the human elements of Scripture and Christ. Enns emphasizes the importance of authenticity in academia and the challenges faced when challenging traditional doctrines. Ultimately, he advocates for a more complex understanding of orthodoxy, bridging personal belief with institutional definitions.
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Moderate Upbringing and Conversion
Enns grew up in a moderate Christian home without evangelical rigors like youth groups.
His conversion at 15 was a key spiritual event, despite its complex effects.
insights INSIGHT
Challenges Enrich Faith
Enns' challenges to faith enriched it by expanding his understanding rather than destroying it.
His temperament was key to embracing complexity instead of rejecting it.
insights INSIGHT
Rejecting The Slippery Slope
Enns rejects the "slippery slope" term, seeing faith as a continuum with varying conservatism.
He insists scripture's historical particularity demands theological frameworks that accommodate complexity.
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In "The Sin of Certainty," Peter Enns challenges the common emphasis on unwavering certainty in faith, arguing that a more humble and trusting approach is more aligned with the nature of God. He explores the dangers of rigid belief systems and the importance of embracing doubt and uncertainty as part of the spiritual journey. Enns encourages readers to move beyond simplistic answers and engage with the complexities of faith. The book promotes a more nuanced understanding of God's relationship with humanity, emphasizing trust and openness over rigid adherence to doctrine. It's a call for a more authentic and vulnerable approach to faith.
Inspiration and Incarnation
Inspiration and Incarnation
Peter Enns
Peter Enns' "Inspiration and Incarnation" explores the complex relationship between the Bible's divine inspiration and its human authorship. Enns argues that the Bible is both divinely inspired and deeply rooted in its historical and cultural context. He challenges traditional views of biblical inerrancy, proposing a more nuanced understanding of the text's authority. The book sparked significant controversy within evangelical circles, highlighting the ongoing debate about biblical interpretation and the tension between faith and historical scholarship. Enns' work has significantly influenced discussions about the nature of scripture and its relevance to contemporary readers.
Bible for Normal People
Bible for Normal People
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Peter Enns
Peter Enns' "Bible for Normal People" offers a fresh perspective on biblical interpretation, aiming to make the text accessible and relevant to contemporary readers. The book tackles complex theological issues with clarity and humor, encouraging readers to engage with the Bible critically and thoughtfully. Enns emphasizes the human element in the Bible's creation, acknowledging its historical and cultural context. He challenges traditional interpretations, promoting a more nuanced understanding of the text. The book is widely praised for its accessibility and its ability to spark meaningful conversations about faith.
Curveball
Curveball
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Andrea Long Chu
The evolution of Adam
Peter Enns
A theologian and professor at an Evangelical Theological Seminary describes a very unique, but instructive, “slippery slope” experience.
As promised, here’s our second conversation with someone who walked that “slippery slope” out of Evangelicalism, but did so while leading and teaching a large group of Evangelicals who were still quite comfortable with their own Christian worldviews. Last week it was John James Kirkwood, as the pastor of a church with strong Christian Nationalist leanings. This week, it’s Dr. Pete Enns, a theologian and the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University (formerly Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary).
We talked about the Christianity he grew up within (German Methodist), and his early years at Messiah University (a private evangelical Christian university in Pennsylvania) getting his BA in Behavioral Science, followed by an M. Div from Westminster Theological Seminary, and then a PhD at Harvard University (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations). During those 16 years of academic learning, Pete’s understanding of the Bible changed completely. He now saw human fingerprints all over it, and his interpretation of it looked very different from that of many Evangelicals (and completely heretical for Fundamentalists).
We talked about that journey, and why it seemed to look and feel so different from the “slippery slope” experience that many of the rest of us typically describe. Instead of the incapacitating elements of confusion and disorientation, for him it was more of an invigorating intellectual evolution. He also didn’t experience the peer pressure that I had expected: the coercive influence of what his peers (scholars; professors; intellectuals), his employer (the University) or his students (bright-eyed Evangelicals themselves) might think. Instead, he was motivated by being true to himself and following the evidence to its logical conclusion … being authentic and maintaining his integrity. But he did experience one other key element of the “slippery slope” syndrome: the emotional collapse at the end of the journey. He described the sadness he felt when he realized “I may never sing another Christmas carol again.” The isolation, and loss of a community. The uncertainty of having no guardrails, nor Someone constantly watching over him.
We also talked at length about his confrontation with the Board at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he had been teaching for years, and how it ended with the resignation of almost a dozen leaders at the University, including Pete himself. How it was clearly a battle over orthodoxy, and the control of orthodoxy, especially how that crystalized around one particular book that Pete had written (Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament) … the VERY different perceptions about that book held by the Board, the Faculty of the University, his book publisher, his readers, and even himself.
Finally, we also talked about a couple other books he’d written which were particularly relevant to this discussion: The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our ‘Correct’ Beliefs (a clear reference to orthodoxy), and Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming (or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God).
We thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and are sure you will find much to learn from it. Enjoy!
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also want to look at our collection of similar life stores of people leaving traditional Fundamentalism/Evangelicalism to find a Christianity that looks completely different.
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Recovering Evangelicals 
