Inspiration and Incarnation

Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

Second Edition

Peter Enns

BakerAcademic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2005, 2015 by Peter Enns

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Enns, Peter, 1961–

Inspiration and incarnation: evangelicals and the problem of the Old Testament / Peter Enns.—Second Edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8010-9748-5 (pbk.)

1. Bible. Old Testament—Evidences, authority, etc. 2. Bible. Old Testament—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Evangelicalism. I. Title.

BS480.E56 2015

221.1′3—dc23

2015002055

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations from the Apocrypha are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The illustration on page 43 is from Alan P. Dickin, On a Faraway Day …: A New View of Genesis in Ancient Mesopotamia (Columbus, GA: Brentwood Christian Press, 2002), 122. Used by permission of the author.

For Erich, Elizabeth, and Sophia

“That’s a really good question.…”

Contents

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the First Edition

1. Getting Our Bearings

What I Hope to Accomplish in This BookA Way toward Addressing the Problem: The Incarnational Analogy

2. The Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Literature

The Impact of Akkadian LiteratureSome Other Ancient Near Eastern TextsWhat Exactly Is the Problem?How Have These Issues Been Handled in the Past?How Can We Think through These Issues Differently?How Does This Affect Us?

3. The Old Testament and Theological Diversity

The Problem of Theological Diversity in the Old TestamentDiversity in Wisdom LiteratureDiversity in ChroniclesDiversity in LawGod and DiversityWhat Does Diversity Tell Us about Scripture?

4. The Old Testament and Its Interpretation in the New Testament

Do New Testament Authors Misuse the Old Testament?Biblical Interpretation in the Second Temple PeriodApostolic Hermeneutics as a Second Temple Phenomenon: Interpretive MethodsApostolic Hermeneutics as a Second Temple Phenomenon: Interpretive TraditionsWhat Makes Apostolic Hermeneutics Unique?Should We Handle the Old ...

Content not shown in limited preview…
II:EPOT

About Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

How can an evangelical view of Scripture be reconciled with modern biblical scholarship? In this book Peter Enns, an expert in biblical interpretation, addresses Old Testament phenomena that challenge traditional evangelical perspectives of Scripture. He then suggests a way forward, proposing an incarnational model of biblical inspiration that takes seriously both the divine and the human aspects of Scripture. This tenth anniversary edition has an updated bibliography and includes a substantive postscript that reflects on the reception of the first edition.

Support Info

nsprtncrtnscdtn

Table of Contents