The Bible Tells Me So

Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It

By: Peter Enns

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Trained as an evangelical Bible scholar, Peter Enns loved the Scriptures and shared his devotion by teaching at Westminster Theological Seminary. But the further he studied the Bible, the more he found himself confronted by questions that could neither be answered within the rigid framework of his religious instruction nor be accepted among the conservative evangelical community.

Rejecting the increasingly complicated intellectual games used by conservative Christians to "protect" the Bible, Enns was conflicted. Is this what God really requires? How could God's plan for divine inspiration mean ignoring what is really written in the Bible? These questions eventually cost Enns his job - but they also opened a new spiritual path for him to follow.

The Bible Tells Me So chronicles Enns's spiritual odyssey, how he came to see beyond restrictive doctrine and learned to embrace God's Word as it is actually written. As he explores questions progressive evangelical readers of Scripture commonly face yet fear voicing, Enns reveals that they are the very questions that God wants us to consider - the essence of our spiritual study.

©2014 Peter Enns (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This is not an academic book, instead, it's a popular, short treatment designed to provoke a reset of how we read the Bible." ( Library Journal)

Enlightening & Entertaining

Peter Enns is a PhD scholar with a sarcastic sense of humor who communicates deep truth in an approachable style. I have been a Christian for over 50 years and this book has helped me understand scripture in a whole new way.

If you are open to expanding your faith and grasp of the Bible, this book is for you.

Liberating

Wow! What an eye-opener! I loved this book from start to finish. The style with which Enns writes is engaging as it is informative. Joe Barret's narration is impeccable. I will be gifting this book for a long time!

Not as focused as it could be

Enns is a compelling author and I've been influenced by a number of his works. This book seems to suffer from a lack of focus. Perhaps this is because of his attempt to write for a popular audience instead of an academic one. The book is full of interesting examples but I kept finding myself asking, "so what?" It's an interesting book but Enns never really brought it home for me.

Great narration Great ideas

Joe Barrett did a very enlivening narration really giving meaning to the valuable words of the very well written and comforting book

A rare, academically honest overview of the Bible.

Pete treads dangerous territory with the topics he chooses to write about but I believe the Christian community as a whole is all the better for it. Christians in church today are shielded from the inconsistency’s in the text and very few are aware of the baggage they bring to it. Pete is and will continue to be a Christian author of note and his material should be in every theologians library.

Eye opening

I actually feel like Peter Enns just gave me a crash course on interpretation. Now I appreciate the diversity of scripture. Also opened my mind to the importance of seeing things through the eyes of ancient readers.

#WOW BRAND NEW 👓VIEW👓

I've read the bible from cover to cover a few times and I've learned a lot in seeing the bible as one whole story from beginning to end with countless connections through and through. But hearing this book and the way everything was broken down and dissected and unpacked really cleared up so many questions and unsure points in my studies! This book was crazy amazing and I'm reading it again and I'm telling all of my friends about this book!!!

Nice work, Pete!

Definitely changing how I read the bible from here on in. Also affirms how I've interpreted the Bible up until now.

A new angle that is very important to hear

This is super thought-provoking and really helps me think of the Bible in a different way. I'm not sure where I fall on the belief spectrum of atheist8 and theism but Peter Enns helped me challenge the evangelical indoctrination I grew up with. I was taught to believe everything word for word and that the Bible was timeless and had all the answers. I always struggled with this view point and all of the biblical contradictions took away any credibility for me. And true to my upbringing any form a challenging the "Word of God" meant I didn't believe in God so I left the Church and Christianity altogether. This book has pushed me to look deeper into the cultural and historical contest of the Bible. It hasn't answered all my questions (no book ever will) but it has at least has given me another angle to look at things. I will definitely read more books by him.

The narrator was good though he worried me a bit at first. He has a slow and calming voice which I thought would make it hard for me to stay focused. We've all had one of those teachers that would put us to sleep during their lectures. But I was wrong and I found I adjusted quite well.

So helpful in grasping an alternative approach to reading the Bible and trusting God

I have been searching for a way to make sense of so many passages in the Bible that don’t seem to make sense given my time and place in history. Peter’s book went a long way in doing so and gave me hope to better understand and appreciate the scripture story.