Eric A. Seibert, Enjoying the Old Testament: A Creative Guide to Encountering Scripture. IVP Academic, 234 pp. Francis Bacon famously observed, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested…” For many Christians, the Old Testament is like spinach: we know it is good for us, but […]
Bible
The Limits of Defending Biblical Violence By Appealing to a Big, Wild, and Dangerous God
Over the years, I have seen many Christians attempt to address problems of divinely sanctioned biblical violence by reframing them as virtues: in short, the bug is a feature. How so? On this re-narration, the problem of biblical violence should remind us that God is big and wild and dangerous. This offers an essential chastening […]
Fundamentalist Bible Reading and Literally False Descriptions of God
In this video, I explain how a passage like Exodus 32 forces fundamentalist Christians to abandon their “literalist” approach to Bible reading or face stark theological consequences. ?
How Professional Wrestling can Help Us Understand the Bible
In this video, I argue that in the same way that we can appreciate professional wrestling as performance even if it is not a conventional sport, so we can appreciate non-historical aspects of the biblical narrative even if they are not literally true. ?
Biblical Violence is Still Violence … and is not Appropriate for All Ages
A parent once asked me whether The Passion of the Christ would be appropriate viewing for his ten-year-old child. I replied by asking if he thought the infamous ten-minute torture-ear amputation scene in Reservoir Dogs would be appropriate. The fact that you interpret some violent event as having religious significance doesn’t magically make it appropriate […]
The Bible, Divinely Commanded Violence, and Inspiration: My Opening Statement
In May 2021, I debated John Loftus on Modern Day Debate. The debate resolution was “The Bible, with its divinely commanded violence, wasn’t inspired by a perfect God.” Here is my opening statement in full. Thanks to Modern Day Debate for the invitation to debate and to John Loftus for agreeing to participate. I’d like to […]
How Not to Read the Bible: Lessons from Footloose
In this video, I consider the lamentable Bible reading of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) as he uses biblical passages out of context as a pretext to get the town to lift their ban on school dances. All from the classic 1984 teen movie Footloose.
If the Bible includes immoral laws, how can it be inspired?
My new book Conversations with My Inner Atheist features an extended conversation ranging over 25 chapters with my inner voice of questioning and doubt, My Inner Atheist (Mia). I have included chapter 6 below: “If the Bible includes immoral laws, how can it be inspired?” If you enjoy the chapter, consider buying the book. Mia: […]
How Christians engage in special pleading when they try to justify bad biblical behavior
Many conservative Christians believe that men should follow the Billy Graham Rule to never be alone with a woman who is not your life. Unless you’re a king like David: then you can climb into bed with a young virgin girl. In this video, I criticize that kind of painful special pleading.
Hey, Liberal Christian Scholars have Biases Too
It is very common to hear that conservative Christian scholars have a bias. For example, they are biased when they insist that Paul wrote the disputed epistles. They are biased when they claim that the Gospels contain eyewitness testimony. They are biased when they date Mark before 70 CE. And so on. My problem is […]
Reading What the Bible Says About Dogs to My Dog
Church Doctrine & the Bible: A Review
David Instone-Brewer. Church Doctrine & the Bible. Scripture in Context. Lexham Press, 2020. The latest entry in the Lexham Press “Scripture in Context” series focuses on the relationship between Christian doctrines and the Bible. Throughout the book, David Instone-Brewer, a research fellow at Tyndale House and specialist in Judaism in the first century, takes his knowledge […]
Sean McDowell’s 5 Reasons the Bible is True: A Response
Let’s start with the video. Don’t worry, it’s only 52 seconds. 5 Reasons the Bible is reliable in one minute! VIDEO. pic.twitter.com/mX7VelC8VC — Sean McDowell (@Sean_McDowell) April 25, 2020 I think this kind of stuff does more harm than good. First off, most of Sean’s points pertain not to the Bible simpliciter but rather to […]
Biblicism Run Amok
Ever wonder what biblicism run amok looks like? For a great example, consider this quote from R. Albert Mohler in his essay in the book Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (hat tip to my student Rodney for the reference): “I do not allow any line of evidence from outside the Bible to nullify to the […]
