Podcasts about Peter Enns

In this episode of Just Schools, Dr. Jon Eckert speaks with Dr. Lynn E. Swaner, the President US, for Cardus. Lynn's professional experience spans several sectors and encompasses roles in academia, sponsored research, associations, and independent schools. As a result, she is passionate about building bridges within and across fields. They share about the 2023 Cardus Education Survey and what it reveals about the long-term impact of different educational sectors, including Protestant Christian, Catholic, public, independent, and homeschool settings. Swaner highlights key findings: Christian schools continue to excel in faith formation, are improving in academic outcomes, and face growth opportunities around belonging and peer relationships.  The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Be encouraged. Mentioned: Cardus 2023 Findings Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy by Matthew Kaemingk The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs by Peter Enns Connect with us: Center for School Leadership at Baylor University Jon Eckert LinkedIn Baylor MA in School Leadership   Jon: All right, so welcome to the Just Schools podcast. This is Dr. Lynn Swaner. She has a new role as of last year, so we're going to dig in a little bit into that and then some of the work we've been able to do together. So Lynn, thanks for being with us and just tell us a little bit about what you're doing. Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Jon. I'm excited to be here and join you and your listeners. So some exciting things that I've been working on, a new part of my role as Cardus President U.S., which I joined in January of last year. I can't believe it's almost been a year. And so in that role... It's helpful for me to explain a little bit about what Cardus does. Cardus is a nonpartisan think tank. It is grounded and rooted in 2000 plus years of Christian social thought. And what we look at are how the different spheres of society. So education is one. For example, healthcare could be another, government, family, citizenship, all work independently as well as work together for flourishing societies. And so we have research files in all of those areas. And of course here in the U.S., I'm still very involved in working with education and that's where we get to the Cardus Education survey, which I know we're going to be talking about today. But just a little bit of framing really quickly about Cardus's philosophy and approach to education. In many societies in the U.S. is no different, there's kind of this division of education into, for example, your traditional public or district schools. You've got private schools, you've got charter schools, which obviously are a type of a public school. You've got homeschooling, etc. And Cardus's position is that all education is public in the sense that it contributes to the public good. And certainly when we do the Cardus education survey, that's what we found will impact that a little bit. But we're finding that different types of schools and homeschooling actually contribute positively to a range of outcomes that we would want healthy, thriving, contributing citizens of our country to demonstrate to and to inculcate. Jon: So great introduction. I first became aware of Cardus through the Cardus education survey because Katie Weins was writing a draft of it as a next door neighbor back, I guess this would've been in 2011, 2012 that she was working on that. And I love the idea of what Cardus is about because it's not trying to say, Hey, we want to privilege this over this, over this. It's like, Hey, no, all education is for this common good and it's all public and let's do this work. And so at the Baylor Center for School Leadership, that's what we want to do. We want to support Christians in whatever work and whatever schools they're called to. So Cardus has been a huge blessing in our work, and it's one of the places where our work's been able to overlap. And so in this last year, we were able to do the data collection for the 2023 Cardus education survey for the U.S. So talk a little bit about the way we collect that data. Getting that nationally representative sample of 24 to 39 year olds is hard, it's expensive and it's not done very often. So can you dig into a little bit of how we collect this data and how Cardus is doing it since 2011, but how we did particularly in 2023? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Sure. And I'd love for you to chime into obviously Jon as a card senior fellow and as a co-author on the report. If you want to provide any additional flavoring to anything I'm saying, feel free to. But I think most particularly practitioners, and if you've done doctoral research, the type of research that you're used to is certainly collecting data on graduates through alumni surveys and things like that. And we also have anecdotal data, right? So graduates will come back and say, "Hey, this is the impact that this teacher had on me," et cetera. And from these and other places, I think most educators know that they make a difference in the lives of students, but we don't always know in a really rigorous way what difference certain types of schools make, let alone what is the impact of a whole sector. And that leads to all different kinds of questions like are we delivering on our promises in our mission statements, [inaudible 00:04:18] of a graduate, et cetera. So that's where the CES comes in. And it is quite different to the types of research that most practitioners will be aware of. And so there's essentially three different ways that I can differentiate the CES, the versus as you mentioned in the sample. So we survey over 2300 graduates in that age 24, 39-year-old bracket, it looks at the five largest educational sectors in the U.S. So those are traditional public schools, Protestant Christian, Catholic, non-religious independent schools and homeschooling. And so that enables us to kind of compare in a healthy way, not in a competitive way, but a healthy way, how graduates from a specific sector are faring. And the way that we do this is we use a leading polling firm in the United States. So we use Ipsos Public Affairs KnowledgePanel, and then from that they generate a nationally representative sample. And so most of the time practitioners will be more familiar with convenient samples, so for example, the alumni that they have emails for or the people who respond, this is very different where we're starting with that polling panel where actually it is already nationally representative and we can weigh things and make sure that it is. That's the first difference. The second is really looking at holistic outcomes. So when we administer the CES, we're asking questions about academic, spiritual, cultural, civic, relational, we even have mental health and well-being in 2023. So we're not just asking, did you go to college? Although we do ask those questions. It's really looking at more of those flourishing outcomes. And probably one of the strongest things that the CES does is we use rigorous controls, which is a fancy research term. So we actually screen out methodologically and statistically the impact of family background characteristics. So that's things like socioeconomic status, education level parents, religiosity of your family, that kind of stuff so that no two graduates are ever identical. But let's say you and I were very, very similar in our backgrounds. And then you multiply that over hundreds of people, we're able to estimate, well, we've got these people who are essentially the same in these major pieces. So any difference that we observe in their life outcomes, we can estimate that we can actually attribute that to the type of school that they went to. So again, nobody's exactly the same, but because we use those rigorous controls, we can actually start to estimate the difference of the specific type of school that they attended. That's just a little background on the CES and the power that it brings to these questions. Jon: Yeah, that's super helpful. And the charts that you see in the report will always have two bars. One that's the raw score and then one that estimates the school effect. And of course, we can't control for every variable, but we control for a lot of them to try to get a better handle. So you'll see those and we try to be as transparent as we can. Again, with any good research, that's what you want to do. Another thing, when we started timeout doing this iteration, I remember talking to you in Ottawa about this. We really wanted to get a sense of how schools have shifted since COVID, because that was this seismic shift and we realized that to collect those data was going to be insurmountably expensive and too hard to do. So we opted for this, which I actually like what we finally landed on this I think is great. These graduates, the 24 to 39 year olds in this sample, the youngest graduates would've finished in 2018. So I feel like we've got this really interesting baseline of what we launched into when COVID created this unbelievably tragic in many ways, but natural experiment when all education shifted because that created a seismic shift like we haven't seen in education ever. And so now we have this data that says, Hey, these are the 24 to 39 year olds that graduated from these places. And so I think the key is to see some of the major findings that came out in this iteration, because I think then future CES surveys will capture some of the shifts that happened in graduates post-2018 when 2020 hit. So can you just lay out three or four of the major findings? Obviously the report is quite long, so if you want to dig into all the different outcomes about civic life, family life, religiosity, faith, mental health, I love the mental health items that we added. What would you say the three or four main findings that people would be most interested in from this iteration of the CES? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, so obviously I'll speak specifically to the Christian school sector. In the actual report, we provide a summary of findings for each sector, so for Catholic schools, for Protestant Christian schools, homeschooling, etc. So I'll focus here specifically on Christian schools. And so there's essentially three large sort of theme, thematic findings, if you will. One is really good news in terms of consistency. One is some good changes. And then one is an area that as we've talked with school leaders about this, that they really want to be thinking more deeply about and focus on for growth and improvement. So the first key finding is consistency in faith formation. So as you mentioned, we've done this survey now four times in the U.S. and each since 2011, and in each iteration, Christian schools stand out most distinctly in their ability to foster faith formation. So when we look at things like religious engagement in terms of going to church, regular practices such as prayer, Bible reading, when we look at spiritual vibrancy, so like saying that their schools prepared them for a vibrant spiritual life or they have a higher sense of regularly experiencing God's presence compared to all the other formal schooling sectors, Christian schools stand out the most in terms of their graduates report that at much higher levels. And we even see beyond personal faith that graduates are seemingly living out those values in a couple of ways specifically. So for example, they participate in charitable giving and volunteerism at much higher levels than graduates of other formal schooling sectors. So that's really good news. Again, we've seen that consistently, and I think it makes sense, right? If you have schools, some estimates like 13 to 15,000 hours spent in a school in a formal schooling context, right? And if one of the stated outcomes is these types of spiritual formation outcomes, then we would hope to see that in the data. And in fact, we do. And again, remember this is after estimating school effect, right? So this is not the influence of family, although of course we know families influence this and churches, et cetera. This is saying we take two students that look the same in terms of background, we're going to notice this benefit, this boost. So that's consistent finding number one. The next- Jon: Hey, can I jump in there real quick, Lynn? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, please. Jon: So on that, just to make sure, because you're not able to see the charts because it's a podcast, we will try to link this to the podcast so you can look at the report. And Lynn's done a great blog summary of this too. So we will post that as well. What she means by that is, so for example on how often, if at all, do you pray to God or some higher power, 37% of public school students, there are baselines. So when you look at the report, don't think the public school people are left out, they are the baseline. Everything's being compared against the public school because that was the largest population that we look at. 24% more Protestant Christian school graduates pray to God or a higher power regularly, just the raw score. When you adjust for all the other demographics that feed into that graduate, that drops to 14%, that's still significant at the 0.01 level. So that means with 99% certainty, that's not random. And so that's what she means when she says, Hey, even controlling for school effects. So we try to focus in on those things that are significant even when you control for demographic backgrounds, because it would make sense. Well, if you grow up in a family where that's typical and that's normal and you have all these things, then maybe that's all that it is. And the school doesn't have any effect. That doesn't appear to be the case on an item like that. So thanks for setting up and let me interject there into the wonky details that people can't see. Dr. Lynn Swaner: No, that's really, really helpful. Trying to paint a word picture here, but just a plug for folks to access the report. One of the really great things about these graphics, which are some of the best I think we've ever done, is you can actually, on the online report, you can just simply click and download any of these figures. So if you want to pop it into... They're publicly and freely available. But yeah, thanks for flushing that out, Jon. So that's the consistency piece we've seen. Key finding number two is rising academic outcomes. So people who've been in Christian education for a while will remember the 2011 CES. I certainly remember when that came out because I was in a Christian school at the time. And at that time, Christian school graduates were reporting lower levels than their public school peers when it came to college attainment, when it came to feeling prepared for academics post-secondary school. And what we see in the 2023 data is that that has significantly improved. So now Christian school graduates are trending at the same levels when they report as their public school peers earning bachelor's degrees, how well-prepared they feel for college, et cetera. And I think, Jon, I'd be curious to hear your take on this, but this to me reflects what many Christian school leaders have shared with me anecdotally and what I have seen in the field. That over the past decade or so, schools have worked to increase academic rigor, right? So I think this is something that as I'm sharing this with school leaders, that seems to really ring true with them. That it used to be years ago sort of the sense of, well, we really, really care about the spiritual outcomes. We're not as concerned about academic. And there's been a rethinking of that to say, well, actually, if we're going to be a school, then we need to do academics really, really well, both... Because of our spiritual mission. Because we want to be excellent to honor the name of Christ, and also because we want students to be well-prepared for whatever good works. Think about Ephesians 2:10 that God has prepared for them. So Jon, I'm assuming you've seen some of that as well, but I think this is worth celebrating. There's still more work to do, right? We don't want to settle for, okay, Christian schools are at par with public schools. There's still more to do, but I think this is something worth celebrating. Jon: Well, I agree, and I think there's been this shift even in the last few years where there's some skepticism about college as the ideal outcome for kids because of the sense that some colleges skew worldview in these ways that may not be in keeping with the belief system that a more conservative family might have. And so the way this question is worded I think is well set up. And again, we took this from previous surveys, so it's not like Lynn and I are sitting here complimenting our structure of our question here. But it's how well did your high school prepare you for academic success in post-secondary education or training? So it's this kind of wide open, Hey, do you feel prepared? 31% of public school students said, yeah, they were. Even when controlling for the family effect and the other socioeconomic effects, Protestant Christian schools are 22% higher than that, so that's 53%, over half of them felt that way. Now, unless we think we're getting everything right, Catholic schools are at 59% and non-religious independent schools are at 64%. So we still have room to continue growing in that. I think that's one that, again, its perception is somewhat reality here. If you don't feel like you're prepared for post-secondary success, then you probably aren't. And at 24 to 39, you have evidence that says, yeah, I wasn't really well-prepared. And so I do feel like given the previous iterations of CES, I think Protestant schools have made some big gains there. And I think that's super encouraging. And I hope that coming out of COVID, that that momentum can continue. Because I think for many schools that was a moment to say, Hey, look, this is a really good place to try to meet needs for specific learners that help them be prepared for life, not just for economic outcomes, but for outcomes more broadly. Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah. I think too, just to go meta for a minute, I think it's also really encouraging... I'm encouraged by this, that if a whole sector or let's say a large number of schools within a sector say, Hey, this is something we're going to improve on, we're going to be intentional about, we actually have evidence that it can make a difference, and that should be obvious. But I think when you get into the nitty-gritty of leading a school, of teaching in a school day in and day out, that can be hard to remember. And so I hope that schools, educators, leaders find this encouraging that when we focus on something... And the other interesting piece here which we don't have to go into in depth, is that I think a decade or two ago, there was this perception maybe that if we focus on the academic, it would be at the detriment of spiritual formation. And we're not seeing that. So it's not like all of a sudden there's been this precipitous drop and spiritual formation with academic outcomes skyrocketing. That's not what's happening. And so I think that's just really kind of a validation of the work that schools have been doing and still need to do, but I just want to kind of point that out. Jon: Well, and to quickly add to that, if you look at the highest level of school completed, this is the broader perception of preparation for post-secondary. When you control for the sector, Protestant schools are almost identical to public schools on bachelor's degree or higher, a 0.01 higher in that. So it's not that we necessarily have more students going on to bachelor's degrees or higher in Protestant Christian schools, it's that they feel more prepared for whatever it is they're heading into, whatever that might be. And so I think that is an encouragement that academics, you don't look at academics as one subset that hurts the others. As Christians, we should be doing everything excellent ways. And so I like the robust way that the Cardus survey, especially this year, tries to look at that. Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah. So we'll move on to the final... And again, encourage everyone to download the report, lasts to be seen and to understand. But the final thing that stands out and that really is resonating as we speak with schools and leaders and teachers, is sort of this broad category of shortfalls in belonging and peer relationships. So the first thing is in terms of overall mental health and well-being, graduate of Christian schools report similar levels in terms of depression, anxiety as peers and other sectors. So that I guess is good news in the sense that they're not necessarily more anxious or struggling with well-being than other sectors. It's important to just mention that graduates of homeschooling are the only sector that experienced lower rates in that. So that's really interesting. That's a conversation for another day. But that's the first thing. But what we did observe is that... And this is slight, it's not extreme, so we can pull the numbers and they're not hugely significant, but it still, we can see this is that graduates of Christian schools seem to have a lower sense of belonging. So saying they felt that they belonged when they were in their schools and also slightly weaker peer relationships. And this all compared to their public school counterparts. So again, you mentioned the public school being the baseline. So we're not even talking about non-religious independent Catholic schools. We're just talking about the public school comparison. And what's really interesting is that even though they had this sense, lower sense of belonging, they still felt like their schools were really close-knit communities. And that's a bit of a paradox, I guess you could say. Their schools were really, really close-knit, but they didn't feel they belonged at the same rate as public school graduates and other graduates of other sectors. So I think this is... There's a lot of speculation. Obviously the data doesn't explain why this is the case. And as I've talked with school leaders, as you've talked with leaders trying to give some thoughts around this, some interesting things are coming up, which is it's very easy to look to the external environment for answers. So if you look at 24 to 39-year-olds right now, we know that a significant tranche of that group would've been impacted during high school by smartphones, social media, even some declining enrollment in private schools, right? So immediately we're going to... Cyberbullying, we turn to those kinds of things. And that's absolutely true, and there's no doubt that those things had an impact. But where the question is, is why didn't we see the same dip in the other sectors, right? Because arguably, Catholic school enrollments were dropping at the same time. Independent school enrollments, everybody's got smartphones. So I think there's something unique to the Christian school environment that we need to ask the question, what happened there? What's going on? And again, anecdotally, just as I saw over the last 10 plus years, an emphasis on improving academics, I think we've started in Christian schools to really be thinking about how do we build communities where there's a sense of belonging, right? Where we have people from different backgrounds, where we are working on bullying, we're working on these things. And it'll be interesting to track this into future years, but there's a lot of discussion about this and why this could be, how we can do this better. Jon: Yeah, I think this is a great example of where the CES is super helpful because Protestant schools and public schools are not statistically significantly different. About half the kids feel like they belong, about half don't. So we had about half say, agree or strongly agree in both public schools and Protestant schools. But what I'm fascinated by is the non-religious independent schools. Even when controlling for school effect, they are significantly by 21%, 18% different where you have 68, 70% of their kids feeling they belong. And when you lean into stereotypes about secular independent schools, it's like, oh, well, those are going to be clicky, they're elitist, and they're all these things, but based on these data, they feel like they belong and they have stronger relationships with students at their schools. So I mean, I think that's something to dig into. And Catholic schools are similar. They don't have quite the same effect, but Catholic schools are significantly higher on belonging and on the relationships with students in schools. And so again, if all education is public education, then we should be learning from each other, from our areas of relative strength. And so I think that's a super helpful finding, even though it may be a little bit hard to look at because we want to make sure each kid belongs at our school and half of them saying they don't feel they belong. That's a punch in the gut to educators, but we've got to look into it and we've got to find ways to do that better. And I think, my hope is that it's 2020 on all schools have gotten more thoughtful about that, and I hope Protestant Christian schools have been leading the way in that. And I hope we see that in future iterations of the CES. But are you optimistic about that, Lynn? Dr. Lynn Swaner: I am, and I think I would go back to what I said. One of the most encouraging things about the findings for me has been one, as a sector or a large number of schools in the sector say, Hey, we're going to focus on improving this. We see the results. And so I think certainly in all the marketing materials I've ever seen for every Christian school... I know Christian school is saying, we have a sort of unfriendly community or environment, and kids aren't going to... Usually it's the opposite where Christian schools are saying, we're a family, we're so close-knit. And I think the findings here suggest and encourage us to not just assume that that is happening. Just because we say that we're a close-knit community, that kids are loved and feel like they belong, just because we say that, doesn't mean automatically that that is happening. And so we just need to lean into that, and that's going to look different on every campus, right? I certainly am hopeful about some of the changing approaches to technology in schools that are more thoughtful, more intentional than I think reactional... Reactionary, I should say. So I think a lot of schools are thinking about, Hey, if we let kids have cell phones... I just heard about school the other day that lets the students have cell phones in passing periods. Well, okay, they have their cell phone in passing periods, but then they're not of looking up and talking with people, whereas other schools will say, you can't have them. We're going to lock them away for the full day. And then you have students who are like, I got to talk to people in the hall. So I just think schools are being more intentional about this. And I guess my encouragement would be to lean in that even more deeply and understand what this looks like at your school, what are some of the pressure points for students, ask your graduates and your alumni. And I think it's just a really good way for us to say, Hey, let's continue leaning into what we say about ourselves and also what we want to be. Jon: Yeah. I'm so encouraged hearing about all the loud cafeterias that are coming back. I think that's a blessing. And so that's an encouragement. So we're going to do a quick lightning round here, and I'm going to frame these, and you can answer them as succinctly as you can. But if you were to say, Hey, here is the worst piece of advice that you could take from the CES. If you were to say somebody were to look at this and say, Hey, you should take this finding from the CES, and this would be... What would be a misapplication of the CES? And then on the other side, what would be the best application of something coming out of the CES? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, that's an interesting one. I think a misapplication of the CES would be to make a declarative statement and say, if you want your child to be this way, you should send them to this type of school. I think that would be a mistake. Because there's a lot of nuance that the CES doesn't... At least if you read it doesn't capture it certainly. And so that would be sort of the negative mistake. How do I think it... And what was the other question? What would be the one thing I would want the- Jon: Best takeaway from the CES. Dr. Lynn Swaner: The best takeaway would be that not that different schools have different kinds of outcomes, and they're rich and diverse and holistic. And so each one of the sectors that we looked at has really, really positive things about it, including public schools and has some things that they need to work on. And so I think that the best takeaway would be to not write off any of schools and to also not say this is the only way to do it. But rather to look at the data to understand, hey, if you're a parent, to say these are our values as a family, these are the things that we want. And we see there's a couple sectors that do these things really well. There's a couple that maybe we wouldn't be interested in that and to make a really informed decision based on that. So I think that would be number one if you were families. And the second thing I would say is just for people who are involved in policymaking, people who are like lawmakers, advocates, is this is not a zero-sum game. There are millions of children in this country, and the vast majority, some, I think around 80% are in public school settings, about 20% are not, which that's not an insignificant number. That's one in five kids. And all of these schools are public education. All of these schools are training people and hopefully creating productive human beings and flourishing human beings and et cetera. And so when we look at how to set up our educational system, there really is... I think about our colleague, Ashley Berner at Jons Hopkins, who's also a senior fellow at Cardus. The subtitle one of her books, the title of her book is No One Way to School. There is no one way to school, and not every school is right for every kid, every year. And so if we have a robust educational system that allows families to make choices that fit their children and fit their needs and the types of things that they want to see for their kids, that is not only the most just system, but also the CES provides evidence that all kids can flourish. Jon: And that's the goal, each kid flourishing. So I always have to ask, what's your favorite book or one of your... I know you read a lot. One of your favorite books you've read in the last year? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, that's a really tough question. Jon: I know. I know- Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah, I'm going to have to say two. One of which is a little bit more academic, and another one which is a little more accessible. So the first would be Work and Worship. So that's actually by Matthew Kaemingk and Cory Wilson. So Matt Kaemingk is out at Fuller. And it really looks at how... We were just having this conversation about Christian schools, right? So bifurcating, academics and spiritual formation. And we do that a lot with our work, right? Maybe a little bit less in Christian school settings, but really taking a look at how we bring our work as an offering of worship and how we worship through our work. And I was not raised in a liturgical background. Getting to know the beauty of liturgy more now as an adult and as I continue on in my faith, and just to be able to look through this book and see different prayers and liturgies for work has been really, really encouraging. So it's the first one. And the second one is The Sin of Certainty. Subtitles, Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs. So this is by Peter Enns, who's actually out of Eastern University near where I live. And what I really like about this book is I think I can't really diagnose this or talk about this briefly in a podcast. In fact, I'm working on a book that looks at this in depth. But God calls us to love him with all of our heart, our mind, soul strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, right? And I think it's easy for schools, it's easy for educators to focus on one of those. It's easy as disciples to focus on one, but that's really not, we're called for this sort of total discipleship. And I think a lot of times, there's been a lot of wonderful things through the emphasis on biblical worldview that we've had in Christian schools. But oftentimes that can morph into, Hey, let's have the correct beliefs, right? Let's get everybody to think rightly about these issues, about what's going on society, etc. And so much of our faith is not just thinking correctly, it's also learning to trust in God and not having the answers, right? And having complicated situations, right? Artificial intelligence, very complicated, right? So how are we going to get the correct belief around that? So this book has been really, really helpful to be thinking about how really people over millennia, literally millennia, have trusted God without always having all the answers in front of them. Jon: That's good. All right, last question. Looking ahead, after we clicked this data, which is kind of backward looking, what was your experience like in schools? And then we do all this work with schools in the present, and then we get to look ahead. What makes you most hopeful about what you see in the future for education that's for the common good? Dr. Lynn Swaner: Yeah. So what makes me most hopeful, I've been spending a lot of time... In fact, I just got back from the International School Choice and Reform Conference presenting there on this data. And what makes me really hopeful is that there's a renewed interest in education by parents, by people who never saw themselves as educational entrepreneurs or edupreneurs as the topic is or as the title may be. So I think there's just a plethora of new types of school options coming on board. So hybrid micro-school, co-ops, all kinds of things that are growing and they're really, really exciting. It's a little bit of the wild west in some ways, but I am excited to see people excited about the possibilities for education as opposed to we're locked into choices that were made 100 plus years ago, and we're just sort of trying to live with the consequences. So I'm excited about the innovation and the diversity that I'm seeing in educational types and models. I think that's going to grow over the coming years. I think as we have more funding available at the state level, I think we'll see parents taking advantage of that. And I'm excited to see what's going to happen. I like change in general. I'm not a person who doesn't change, but I think we're due for a bit of a transformation of our educational system where we end up putting students at the center instead of systems and structures and sort of the way that we've always done things. Jon: That's great. Well, Lynn, really appreciate your time and the work that you do at Cardus and the Cardus education survey. Again, the great thing about Cardus is we're looking to support each kid in the way that they are made so they can become more of who they're created to be. So we don't like to get in the weeds on policy issues and how you should structure vouchers and are these bad. I mean, Texas, we're in the middle of voucher wars and at the end of the day, everybody in Texas wants to make sure each kid is educated well, and families have to be involved in those decisions. And are. I mean, we've made choices with where we live and where we go for years. And so school choice is not a new idea. And I think we need voices like Cardus there saying, Hey, look, this is what graduates are saying about these educa... And we put it out there transparently and we spend the money to get a nationally representative sample so that we try our best to give a accurate picture. So grateful for your work, always grateful for your work at Cardus, and thanks for your time.  

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Anne Kennedy about her review article, “That Sounds Really Hard: Assessing the Theology of Peter Enns”. Coming Soon! This is also part of Anne's ongoing “Theological Trends Column”. Related articles and podcasts by this author:Episode 440: Reimagining ‘Snow White': How Counterfeits Reveal the TrueReimagining ‘Snow White': How Counterfeits Reveal the TrueEpisode 426 Leaving Church, Finding A Platform: A Look at the Content of Rev KarlaLeaving Church, Finding A Platform: A Look at the Content of Rev KarlaEpisode 419: Richard Hays Changes His Mind About Sexuality and God: A Review of ‘The Wideness of God's Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story'Richard Hays Changes His Mind About Sexuality and God: A Review of ‘The Wideness of God's Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story'Don't miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

In Part 2 of Ilia Delio's conversation with author and biblical scholar Peter Enns, we explore deeper dimensions of scripture—and how our understanding of it must evolve alongside us.Together, Ilia and Pete examine how the Bible is often misused as a political and cultural tool, and they ask: Can scripture still offer wisdom in a world facing ecological collapse, moral polarization, and spiritual disconnection?This episode approaches:The New Testament through the lens of change and complexityWhy fundamentalist readings distort the transformative power of scriptureThe psychological and planetary costs of static belief systemsWhether scripture itself is part of a larger religious and cosmic evolutionPete also shares where he looks for hope—and how embracing uncertainty may actually deepen our spiritual lives.ABOUT PETER ENNS“I think part of what it means for God to “reveal” himself is to keep us guessing, to come to terms with the idea that knowing God is also a form of not knowing God, of knowing that we cannot fully know, but only catch God in part—which is more than enough to keep us busy.”Peter Enns (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University (St. Davids, PA).  He has written several books including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, How the Bible Actually Works, and his latest, Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming. Pete is also cohost of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People. The focus of his work centers on understanding the Bible as an ancient text and thinking through what it means to read that ancient text well today.The Center for Christogenesis' annual conference, Rethinking Religion in an Age of Science: From Institution to Evolution is coming up May 2-4. We're featuring many of our podcast guests including Bayo Akomolafe, our own Ilia Delio and more. Registration is open now, with scholarship discounts available for students. Visit christogenesis.org/conference to learn more and register. We hope to see you there!Support the showA huge thank you to all of you who subscribe and support our show! Support for A Hunger for Wholeness comes from the Fetzer Institute. Fetzer supports a movement of organizations who are applying spiritual solutions to society's toughest problems. Get involved at fetzer.org. Visit the Center for Christogenesis' website at christogenesis.org/podcast to browse all Hunger for Wholeness episodes and read more from Ilia Delio. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for episode releases and other updates.

Hunger for Wholeness is back with a brand new season—and we're beginning with a deep and timely conversation about one the most timeless texts.In this season-opening episode, Ilia Delio speaks with biblical scholar and bestselling author Peter Enns. Known for his accessible, thoughtful takes on scripture, Pete invites us to rethink how we read the Bible in a world shaped by science, technology, and evolving consciousness.Together, Ilia and Pete ask:Can scripture still speak meaningfully to us in the 21st century?Is revelation a fixed moment, or an unfolding process?How do we read an ancient text with modern eyes—without losing its transformative power?This is part one of a two-part interview with Pete Enns, co-host of The Bible for Normal People podcast.ABOUT PETER ENNS“I think part of what it means for God to “reveal” himself is to keep us guessing, to come to terms with the idea that knowing God is also a form of not knowing God, of knowing that we cannot fully know, but only catch God in part—which is more than enough to keep us busy.”Peter Enns (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University (St. Davids, PA).  He has written several books including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, How the Bible Actually Works, and his latest, Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming. Pete is also cohost of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People. The focus of his work centers on understanding the Bible as an ancient text and thinking through what it means to read that ancient text well today.The Center for Christogenesis' annual conference, Rethinking Religion in an Age of Science: From Institution to Evolution is coming up May 2-4. We're featuring many of our podcast guests including Bayo Akomolafe, our own Ilia Delio and more. Registration is open now, with scholarship discounts available for students. Visit christogenesis.org/conference to learn more and register. We hope to see you there!Support the showA huge thank you to all of you who subscribe and support our show! Support for A Hunger for Wholeness comes from the Fetzer Institute. Fetzer supports a movement of organizations who are applying spiritual solutions to society's toughest problems. Get involved at fetzer.org. Visit the Center for Christogenesis' website at christogenesis.org/podcast to browse all Hunger for Wholeness episodes and read more from Ilia Delio. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for episode releases and other updates.

Peter Enns joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his career as Professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University, a few of the books he authored and founding Verasight, a survey research firm.

Maximus, unlike N. T. Wright or Peter Enns but like Origen and the Apostles, equates Scripture with the body, soul, and spirit of Christ, treating the inspiration of Scripture as continuing to occur through Christ, and not through the letter.  If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!

Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt have a conversation with Peter Enns about inerrancy, Biblical studies, apologetics, faith, and certainty. Bio Dr. Enns is a biblical scholar who teaches and writes on Old Testament, New Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and the intersection of biblical studies and contemporary Christian faith. Peter Enns (Ph.D., Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of biblical studies at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. Dr. Enns co-hosts the podcast the Bible For Normal People… the only God ordained podcast on the internet.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/expedition44/support

This is our unabridged interview with Pete Enns and Jared Byas.“It was our curiosity about the Bible that is now leading to conclusions that are no longer welcome in these institutions.”Pete Enns and Jared Byas host The Bible for Normal People, a podcast which is loved by some, lambasted by others. They started it as a way to have honest conversations about the Bible, for folks both religious and non-religious -- conversations that cost them both previous jobs at religious institutions.In this episode, they discuss the complexity of the Bible, and what their work has taught them about courage, curiosity, humility, and the dangers of certainty.Show NotesResources mentioned this episode:The Sin of Certainty by Pete EnnsHow the Bible Actually Works by Pete EnnsLove Matters More by Jared ByasThe Bible for Normal PeoplePDF of Lee's Interview NotesTranscript for Abridged EpisodeSimilar No Small Endeavor episodes:Amy-Jill Levine: A Jewish Take on JesusJesuitical: How Young Catholics See the WorldN.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and PoetryJOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live showsSubscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.comSee Privacy Policy: Privacy PolicyAmazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The challenge of any reading of the Bible is that we all come to the text as interpreters with different lenses. Peter Enns said, "All theology has an adjective" - our theology and interpretation are pre-fixed with a setting, a world-view and a bias. How can we prevent letting our filter become the dominant one? How can the diverse experiences of other people help us to encounter the Bible more richly and deeply? We will start using the lens of post-colonialism, at the story of Jesus' encounter with a 'legion of unclean spirits' in Mark 5 and allow each other to imagine and encounter the text through a new and fresh lens. 

Dr. Peter Enns returns to the podcast to discuss his new book Curve-ball - When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming* or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God. Pete admits it's the longest title in the history of publishing. The popular professor, author (see show notes for his many other books), and podcaster (The Bible for Normal People) drops his guard like never before sharing his spiritual and intellectual journey from his days as an aspiring baseball player to progressive Christian thinker. "Wrestling with God and Scripture is very old and completely normal. Actually, it's God-activated," he says. In reviewing the book, Ken and Pete talk about Noah, Jonah, and Jesus as archetypes in the struggle. Richard Rohr, David Bentley Hart, Thomas Oord and Rachel Held Evans get honorable mention as guides. Evolution is a major "curveball" for many Christians. Pete is especially interested in the chaos and "weirdness" of physics and quantum mechanics, all of which have opened Pete's mind and heart to a much bigger and more profound notion of God. While Pete avoids the clichéd use of the over-used and misappropriated descriptor, "deconstruction," he traces a normal, natural, and healthy evolution in our understanding of faith and our relationship to the God of the Universe. SHOW NOTESBecome a Patron: www.patreon.com/beachedwhitemaleSupport the show

A new MP3 sermon from The Trinity Foundation is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: TF Radio - 27: John Hooper on Peter Enns, the Bible, and Its Humanity Subtitle: Trinity Foundation Radio Speaker: Mr John Hooper Broadcaster: The Trinity Foundation Event: Podcast Date: 1/27/2024 Bible: Psalm 138:2; John 17:17 Length: 42 min.

A new MP3 sermon from The Trinity Foundation is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: TF Radio - 27: John Hooper on Peter Enns, the Bible, and Its Humanity Subtitle: Trinity Foundation Radio Speaker: Mr John Hooper Broadcaster: The Trinity Foundation Event: Podcast Date: 1/27/2024 Bible: Psalm 138:2; John 17:17 Length: 42 min.

Bible Study – Job Class Two: Job 1: 6-12 From the Orthodox Study Bible. Satan is Permitted to Test Job 6.  Then as it so happened one day that behold, the angels of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the devil also came with them.  7. The Lord said to the devil, “Where did you come from?” So the devil answered the Lord and said, “I came here after going about the earth and walking around under heaven.” 8. Then the Lord said to him, “Have you yet considered my servant Job, since there is none like him on the earth: a blameless, true, and God-fearing man, and one who abstains from every evil thing?” 9. So the devil answered and said before the Lord, “Does Job worship the Lord for no reason? 10. Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side?  You have blessed the work of his hands, and his cattle have increased in the and.  11.  But stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and see if he will bless You to Your face.” 12.  Then the Lord said to the devil, “Behold, whatever he has I give into your hand; but do not touch him.”  Thus the devil went out from the Lord. Let's break this down. v. 6; why were the angels of God presenting themselves before the Lord? Many angels surround Him continually; ·      Anaphora of St. John Chrsysostom.  For all these things we give thanks unto Thee, and to Thine only-begotten Son, and to Thy Holy Spirit; for all things of which we know and of which we know not, whether seen or unseen; and we thank Thee for this Liturgy which Thou hast willed to accept at our hands, though there stand by Thee thousands of archangels and hosts of angels (Daniel 7:10) the Cherubim and the Seraphim, six- winged (Isiah 6:2) many-eyed (Revelations 4:8) who soar aloft, borne on their wings:  Singing the triumphant hymn, shouting, proclaiming, and saying: “Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory'. (Isaiah 6:3) Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest. (Mathew 21:9, Mark 11:9-10, Psalms 118:26) ·      Hebrews 12:22.  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,    Possibly – they are part of His Divine Council ·      Psalm 81:1-2a; “God stood in the assembly of gods; He judges in the midst of gods,”   ·      Psalm 88: 9-13 (89:6-8). “The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord, and Your truth in the church of the saints.  For who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord and who among the sons of God shall be compared to the Lord?” More likely – they are ministering angels ·      Hebrews 1:14.  Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? ·      Psalms 90:11.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ·      Matthew 18:10.  “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Hesychius of Jerusalem (5th Century - not recognized as a saint): Was there ever a time when the angels did not stand before the Lord? Was it not written about them that “a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him”? (Daniel 7:11)But this coming, in our opinion, is that of the angels who had been sent to serve human beings. Paul actually says, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” HOMILIES ON JOB 2.1.6. More on v.6: why was the devil with him? Note – the problem is why God would be talking with the devil, and why the devil could even stand to be in His presence. One way to resolve this is to note that there are other places in scripture when God talks to the devil and demons (temptation in the wilderness, demons at Gardenes). Another way is to say that it wasn't really “THE Devil”, it was “The Satan”, which is a job title, “The Adversary.”  This takes us back to the Divine Council.  As Michael Heiser writes; Evidence for exactly the same structures in the Israelite council is tenuous. Despite the fact that popular Israelite religion may have understood Yahweh as having a wife, Asherah (see Hess), it cannot be sustained that the religion of the prophets and biblical writers contained this element or that the idea was permissible. There is also no real evidence for the craftsman tier. However, the role of the śāṭān (see Satan), the accuser who openly challenges God on the matter of Job's spiritual resilience, is readily apparent (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6). In the divine council in Israelite religion Yahweh was the supreme authority over a divine bureaucracy that included a second tier of lesser ʾĕlōhîm (bĕnê ʾēlîm; bĕnê ʾĕlōhîm or bĕnê hāʾĕlōhîm) and a third tier of malʾākîm (“angels”). In the book of *Job some members of the council apparently have a mediatory role with respect to human beings (Job 5:1; 15:8; 16:19–21; cf. Heb 1:14). M. S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” ed. Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press, 2008), 114. However, these are not the tacts that St. John Chrysostom took.  By his time, this Satan had been seen to be the same as the fallen angel in the garden etc. ·      He had a lot to say about how angels and demons are mixed together here on earth (even remarking on the headcover passage 1 Corinthians 11:10).  This has obvious implications for us and our spiritual lives! ·      He also said that there was no way the devil could talk to God in this way, and that this is written for the sake of the story (page 24). Also his comment on being rich already putting Job into the arena. [NOTE: I was kidding/prodding about St. John being woke, but he was/is supremely concerned for the poor and the obligations of the rich. Before the term became altered and politicized, this made him a strong promoter of social justice.] v. 7–8 Where Have You Come From? St Gregory the Great: Satan's “going to and fro on the earth” represents his exploring the hearts of the carnal. In this way he is seeking diligently for grounds of accusation against them. He “goes round about the earth,” for he surrounds human hearts in order to steal all that is good in them, that he may lodge evil in their minds, that he may occupy completely what he has taken over, that he may fully reign over what he has occupied, that he may possess the very lives of those he has perfected in sin. Note that he does not say he has been flying through the earth but that he has been “walking up and down it.” For in fact he is never easily dislodged from whomever he tempts. But where he finds a soft heart, he plants the foot of his wretched persuasion, so that by dwelling there, he may stamp the footprints of evil practice, and by a wickedness similar to his own he may render reprobate all whom he is able to overcome. But in spite of this, blessed Job is commended with these words, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” To him, whom divine inspiration strengthens to meet the enemy, God praises as it were even in the ears of Satan. For God's praise of Job is the first evidence of Job's virtues, so that they may be preserved when they are manifested. But the old enemy is enraged against the righteous the more he perceives that they are hedged around by the favor of God's protection. MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 2.65.66. v. 1:9–10 Does Job Fear God for Nothing? St. John Chrysostom: Do you see that Job's wealth was a gift from God? Do you see that it was not the fruit of injustice? How Job had to suffer in order to demonstrate to people that his wealth was not the fruit of injustice! And behold, the devil himself bore witness to him from above and did not realize that he praised Job as well by saying that he had not acquired that wealth through illicit trading and through the oppression of others. Instead, Job owed his wealth to God's blessing, and his security came from heaven. You would have not rejoiced if Job had not been virtuous. But the devil praised and covered him with laurels without realizing what he was doing. COMMENTARY ON JOB 1:10. Manlio Simonetti and Marco Conti, eds., Job, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 4–5. Robert Charles Hill.  St. John Chrysostom Commentaries on the Sages, Volume One – Commentary on Job.  Holy Cross Orthodox Press. What we will cover next week: Job loses his possessions, his children, and his health.  Job 1:7-22

Trinity Foundation Radio host Steve Matthews interviews John Hooper about his Trinity Review article: "Peter Enns, The Bible, and Its Humanity."

A supplemental podcast to our series "Science and Faith." Resources: “Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople” by Tim Keller (2012)The Language of God by Francis Collins (2007)I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution by Denis Lamoureux (2009)The Evolution of Adam by Peter Enns (2021)The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton (2009)The Lost World of Adam and Eve by John Walton (2015)

On this episode, the always insightful (and frequently controversial) biblical scholar Dr. Peter Enns joins the show to talk to us about the journey of faith, trusting God, how to disagree with other Christians, pitfalls in biblical interpretation, and much more. Those familiar with Enns' work typically have a strong opinion either for or against him. The listener is of course free to reach his or her own conclusions, though we will say that a number of us at the Libertarian Christian Institute — even those who strongly differ from Enns on some points — have greatly appreciated and benefited from his material over the years. Sooner or later, we all go through uncertain times in the Christian life. Who among us hasn't felt scared, uncertain, or confused, and unable to voice our thoughts from fear of being made into a church pariah? One permeating theme of Enns' work is that biblical faith is about trusting in God and moving forward even during these times; another is that being faithful to the Scripture requires us to come to it on its own terms, not ours. And all of this has tremendous relevance for how we relate to other believers in a way that honors Christ and unifies the Church, rather than furthers division. If you feel compelled to deconstruct this episode, please consider doing a grammatical-historical word study of the transcript first.  

As Ken closes out Season 4 and welcomes in the New Year and the new Season, he shares the top podcasts for the year. He also identifies and reviews the top seven books from the year's reading. To conclude, he reads his Substack essay, Universalism.The Top Five Podcast Downloads for 2023 -S4E15 Rev. Ben Cremer: Myths We Believe - Mar 17, 2023 S4E3 Rev. Nate Manderson - J6 Committee and Religion Ignored Jan 23, 2023 S4E26 Dr. Peter Enns: Curve-ball - When Your Faith Strikes Out May 19, 2023 S4E18 Tim Whitaker: The New Evangelicals Apr 3, 2023 S4E9 Surviving Purity Culture with Journalist Anna Beahm Feb 15, 2023 Ken's Top Seven Books for 2023 Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger BregmanThe Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremiism by Tim AlbertaA Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy EganFalling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard RohrPrequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel MaddowThe Parable of the Sower by Octavia ButlerElon Musk by Walter IsaacsonKen's Substack Page | Become a Patron | Universalism on SubstackKen's Complete list of books for 2023Support the show

"No One Has Ever Seen God" – I John 4:7-12 Sermon by Peter Enns (Ph.D.), Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, author, and our guest speaker for the 2023 Edmunds Lecture Series, from Sunday, November 12, 2023. 

Dr. Oord discusses the new book from Peter Enns, Old Testament Professor and co-host of The Bible for Normal People podcast.  The book is entitled Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming (or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God) and is now available for purchase.https://www.amazon.com/Curveball-Coming-Stumbled-Tripped-Finding/dp/B09ZYSMRR1

In this podcast—Part 1 of our summer reading series—TNC Pastor David Bryan teaches from Peter Enns's newest book, “Curveball,” on how to pursue deeper faith and greater intimacy with God amid life's unexpected twists and turns.

Dr. Peter Enns returns to the podcast to discuss his brand new book Curve-ball - When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming* or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God. Pete admits it's the longest title in the history of publishing. The popular professor, author (see show notes for his many other books), and podcaster (The Bible for Normal People) drops his guard like never before sharing his spiritual and intellectual journey from his days as an aspiring baseball player to progressive Christian thinker. "Wrestling with God and Scripture is very old and completely normal. Actually, it's God-activated," he says. In reviewing the book, Ken and Pete talk about Noah, Jonah, and Jesus as archetypes in the struggle. Richard Rohr, David Bentley Hart, Thomas Oord and Rachel Held Evans get honorable mention as guides. Evolution is a major "curveball" for many Christians. Pete is especially interested in the chaos and "weirdness" of physics and quantum mechanics, all of which have opened Pete's mind and heart to a much bigger and more profound notion of God. While Pete avoids the clichéd use of the over-used and misappropriated descriptor, "deconstruction," he traces a normal, natural, and healthy evolution in our understanding of faith and our relationship to the God of the Universe. SHOW NOTESBecome a Patron: www.patreon.com/beachedwhitemaleSupport the show

Petter Enns is the author of Curve-Ball. He narrates his journey of questioning his very existence and... God's. It seemed like Evolution threw him a curve-ball that rocked his Fear-based Faith. Peter is the host of The Bible For Normal People Podcast https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/ Christian Podcast BELIEF-O-METER: ⁠⁠https://www.christianpodcast.com⁠⁠ CHRISTIAN PODCAST MERCH & APPAREL: ⁠⁠https://www.christianpodcast.com/shop/⁠⁠ DOWNLOAD OUR APP: ⁠⁠https://www.christianpodcast.app⁠⁠ FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/BETOGUDINO⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@betogudino⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@xtianpodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/christianpodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/XtianPodcast/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/xtianpodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/xtianpodcast/⁠⁠ ADD CHRISTIAN PODCAST CHANNEL ON ROKU TV: ⁠⁠https://channelstore.roku.com/de-de/details/c32b2ed51da0fcd2096003289b059377/christian-podcast⁠⁠ SPONSORS: Soundstripe Royalty Free Music | Copyright Safe Music, SFX & Video Enter Promo Code: ChristianPodcast for a 10% Discount in your subscription. ⁠⁠https://soundstripe.com?fpr=christianpodcast⁠⁠ SUPPORT OUR SHOW If you find this content helpful, your direct support is welcomed Venmo: @christianpodcast or become a monthly supporter and get a Free Mug: ⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/xtianpodcast/support⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/xtianpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/xtianpodcast/support

In my first episode of Kindavangelical I'm going to paint a picture for you, not with acrylics, but with a handful of words. My picture is a metaphor and when you hear it you will instantly know if Kindavangelical is for you, or not. Then I'm going to talk with Jared Byas. Jared served as a local pastor and adjunct professor for almost ten years before launching The Bible for Normal People Podcast with Dr. Peter Enns, an organization committed to bringing the best in biblical scholarship to everyday people.

Ken welcomes the popular scholar, professor, author, and podcaster, Dr. Peter Enns. Pete's podcast, The Bible for Normal People ("the only God-ordained podcast on the internet") has a broad and wide reach, exploring the sacred text along with his co-host Jared Byas. They have interviewed a wide range of scholars from many religious and theological backgrounds. Ken especially appreciates his watershed book, The Sin of Certainty. The two share their journeys through seminary, and Pete gets candid about his experience at Harvard where he completed his dissertation and earned that Ph.D. Pete's early book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament, sparked a controversy that led to his departure as full professor at Westminster Theological Seminary. Pete candidly shares the awakenings he experienced in those formative days and the freedom he enjoys today. SHOW NOTESBecome a Patron - www.patron.com/beachedwhitemaleSupport the showSupport the show

In this episode, Caleb talks with Peter Enns about his book, Curveball, and more.Episode LinksPeter Enns on TwitterCurveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming (or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God)The Bible for Normal People and Faith for Normal People PodcastCaleb's Substack

We're talking this week about The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns.

By wrestling with our reservations, embracing new scientific understandings, and moving forward into the mysterious unknown, we will discover a bigger and more mysterious God than our faith can actually grasp. This event was held at https://www.spark.church on April 23, 2023. Video of the main talk is here: https://youtu.be/aTJ--W1_oQ0. Video of the Q&R after the talk can be found here: https://youtu.be/pBh5BFeKnTg Event page: https://www.spark.church/curveball

By wrestling with our reservations, embracing new scientific understandings, and moving forward into the mysterious unknown, we will discover a bigger and more mysterious God than our faith can actually grasp. This event was held at https://www.spark.church on April 23, 2023. Video of the main talk is here: https://youtu.be/aTJ--W1_oQ0. Video of the Q&R after the talk can be found here: https://youtu.be/pBh5BFeKnTg Event page: https://www.spark.church/curveball

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings are back with Josh Bossé to consider the boundaries established for the tabernacle and the love hidden within them.Presentation for Sanctuary — Entering the Mishkan (PDF)Symbolism of the Biblical World by Othmar KeelInspiration and Incarnation by Peter EnnsJoin the BEMA Slack

In this episode, Andy sits down and talks with Lizz Enns Petters. They discuss her faith deconstruction and motherhood. Learn more of her story on her website and her podcast, the Deconstructing Mamas. About Lizz  My name is Elizabeth Petters, but everyone calls me Lizz. I started spelling my name with two z's when there was another Liz in my elementary class. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder when I was 8. I love writing, organizing, theatre, creating. My three-year-old and I sing Disney songs constantly. My dad is biblical scholar Peter Enns, and I am a chip off the old block (as they say). Most of my days consist of coffee, lexapro, poopy diapers, picture books, cutting food into tiny pieces, and getting to nap time. I do occasionally write my thoughts down and share them with all of you. The Winter Faith Podcast is focused on creating conversations to promote emotional and spiritual growth through tough conversations about faith, apathy, and everything in between. Podcast music by Josh Cleveland. Purchase his album Root of a Man on Apple Music and Amazon Music. Podcast coffee by J Brooks Coffee Roasters. J. Brooks Coffee Roasters was founded in 2010. What is a Roastinality? Follow  @winterfaithpodcast on Instagram, Twitter, and join the Winter Faith Podcast on Facebook. Follow Andy @winterfaithandy Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe to the Winter Faith Podcast on Apple, Anchor, or Spotify. Support the show for as little as $1 a month on Patreon. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/winterfaithpod/message

From the archives: Do science and genetics support the existence of a 'first' human couple? How should we interpret the first chapters of Genesis? Do we need a historical Adam & Eve to make sense of sin and salvation? Three Christians discussed the issues from different perspectives. Dr Denis Alexander is the emeritus director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge. Fuz Rana is a biochemist with Reasons To Believe. Peter Enns is a theologian and author of 'The Evolution of Adam'. First broadcast 2013.   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

We couldn't be more excited about today's episode, and it's with someone we've wanted to get on the podcast for years — Peter Enns. Pete is a well-known bible scholar and is the Abram S. Clemens professor of Bible Studies at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. In recent years, Pete has become well known for several highly popular books, including How the Bible Actually Works, The Bible Tells Me So, and the book we discussed with him today: The Sin of Certainty.In addition to his research and writing, Pete co-hosts the podcast The Bible for Normal People.  In The Sin of Certainty, Pete opens up about his own faith journey, including what he calls “uh-oh” moments — those moments that, as Pete says, “wreak havoc with our neatly arranged thoughts of God, the world, and our place in it.”  He makes the argument that a faith preoccupied with correct thinking can quickly become exhausting as we try to fit our “uh-oh” moments into our previous ways of thinking and believing. Pete insists that there's a different way — the way of listening to our “uh-oh” moments and learning from them, even letting them change us  — and finding our faith transform from a rigid certainty about God to a radical trust in God.We really think you're going to enjoy this conversation, and we're super grateful to Pete for coming on.

TW:  deconstruction, religious shame/trauma, sexual assault, sexual misconduct done by pastors, homophobia/racism/ableism/misogyny inflicted by the church, eating disorders + fasting + fatphobia, brief talk about cults This week we have my older sister, Manni (she/her), on the podcast to chat about our deconstruction and shared upbringing. We talk about everything from how Christianity can become toxic and discriminatory to what deconstruction actually means to how we've moved past bitterness. We also cover quite a few questions sent in from Tik Tok listeners about religion + deconstruction!This episode serves as a little bit of a follow up to my deconstruction journey in episode 5. I wanted to go more in depth about my personal journey and how I have grown and even changed some perspectives in the past year. Healing and growth involve a lot of change, and I want to be transparent about that.If you want to follow Manni or reach out to her, you can follow her on IG @mannibobanni. Manni is also selling some vintage items at a thrift event in the greater Seattle in November area and you can DM her for more info. The resources Manni mentions in the episode are:  “The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It” and “How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers―and Why That's Great News” by Peter Enns. She also talks about how work by Richard Rohr has been helpful to her during her deconstruction & reconstruction journeys. Manni also mentions, “It Didn't Start With You” by Mark Wolynn as a trauma resource. If you are looking for additional deconstruction episodes, we have a list of deconstruction episodes at our IG (@serafinablog). “Girl Boner: The Good Girl's Guide to Sexual Empowerment” by August McLaughlin and any of August's other work. August was also on episode 21 of the podcast! “The Body Keeps The Score” is also an amazing resources for trauma work, and I have episodes (28-30) that breakdown the book. “The Purity Myth” by Jessica Valenti is also an amazing resource for purity culture survivors! Lastly, We Can Do Hard Things, the podcast, but specifically the episode “Chanel Promises: We Are Never Stuck” is an phenomenal resource for trauma recovery as well as Chanel's memoir, “Know My Name.” Mindful Minds is a podcast centered on mindfulness and intentionality. From sex to religion to mental health, we are focusing on how to be mindful & intentional about important topics! Join as we learn and grow together!Please rate us 5 stars and leave us a review! You can find more about Mindful Minds at mindfulmindspod.com & Serafina Blog on serafinablog.com & on Instagram (@serafinablog). And you can follow our podcast account on Tik Tok @mindfulmindspodcast and my personal account where I do a lot of deconstruction content, @fina__bina .Support the show

Big sample, big impact...right? It's not so simple...Large samples don't automatically produce more valid, useful outcomes. Survey design, sample representativeness, participant incentive structures, and analysis plan all impact the results. What can mixed-method, qual-leaning researchers learn from this fact?On this episode, we're joined by Dr. Peter K. Enns, a professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University (where he also serves as Director for the Center for Public Opinion and the Center for Social Sciences). Dr. Enns spends a lot of his time thinking about the impact of his conclusions, because of their political, material, and policy implications. In addition to his work at Cornell, he is a cofounder of Verasight, a consumer insights firm.He outlines the ways we can collect more representative data that's also less likely to produce spurious conclusions. Experience pros will leave a sharper sense of data hygiene and ways to foster a relationship with the users who make their practices possible. Show Notes:Dr. Enns' work, including his books Hijacking the Agenda and Representation NationDr. Katherine Cramer discusses listening in her political science research

Today we are addressing Progressive Christianity. To be clear, we are not talking about politics, though they often go hand in hand. Progressive Christianity is an outgrowth of liberal Christianity, which accepted the modernist ethos of the Enlightenment and merged it with Christianity. Likewise Progressive Christianity brings the assumptions and moral commitments of postmodernism to Christianity. Thus, individual experiences and stories, especially from minorities, victims, and the disenfranchised have higher authority than scripture, history, or logic. As a result, Progressive Christians feel free to disagree with scripture if it seems to cause distress or difficulty for people. Our inner sense of goodness and personal purpose are the spiritual authorities that should guide us, not what Jesus said, not what the church says, not what the bible says. Today I'm playing out a teaching by Mike Winger of Bible Thinker. He had served as a youth pastor and worship leader at a Calvary Chapel church in California before YouTube ministry became his full time focus. His YouTube channel currently has nearly half a million subscribers and his focus is on thinking biblically about life. I thought he made some great points in this presentation that will sensitize you to the cultural creep that is slowly adjusting all of our moral compasses. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYuWlxnqa4o "Progressive Christianity is not a sustainable community, but it's a door out of Christianity" -Mike Winger"Can God tell you that your heart is mistaken? Even about your deepest longings and morality?" -Mike Winger —— Links —— Check out these other episodes related to compassion For outro comments, see Looking for the Historical Jesus between Evangelical and Liberal Scholarship Support Restitutio by donating here Designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here

We continue the year with our first look into the book of Genesis. We invited Jared Byas, from The Bible for Normal People, to answer our most pressing questions. Jared served as a local pastor and adjunct professor for almost ten years before launching The Bible for Normal People with Dr. Peter Enns, an organization committed to bringing the best in biblical scholarship to everyday people. He just released a new book titled Jonah for Normal People. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Jared, and tell your friends! Check out his books, and take one home today. music creditsSynoptic Flow - Scales of MotionFollow us today on the social media and say hi or something.instagramtwitter//www.everythingisok.netSupport us on patreon to get more interviews, special episodes and more.

Life is like smoke. It looks real and solid but when you try to grasp it, it slips through your fingers. And this observation leads Qohelet to the brink of despair at times, because there seems to be nothing that can be counted on in this life “under the sun.” Rather than try to grasp the smoke, the hevel, and watch it slip through your fingers, live life with an open hand. The simple pleasures of life - those are a gift from God. Enjoy them. The relationships you have are a gift from God. These are ways that God is providing for us - enjoy them while you have them. So for Qohelet, the whole duty of man is to enjoy your life such as it is, and to die. But actually there's something more. The whole duty of man is not just to enjoy life and die. The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4889982822.06.05

Confusing informational trust with relational trust can lead to all kinds of trouble. Steve and Nathan talk about how seeing the cracks and seams in the bible can deal a blow to our faith, or how it can change it for the better. Is there more to the Bible than Biblical Scholarship and data? Is there more to the stars than atoms and molecules? Rocks have been tumbled, results were underwhelming. Steve is TikTok Famous (https://www.tiktok.com/@heystevemartin?lang=en) Nathan would not deal well with fame Welcome @Maklelan (https://www.tiktok.com/@maklelan?lang=en) fans! Nathan doesn't understand Geopolitics Steve thinking about money, recruiters gives Nathan an idea (https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Podcast%20Editor&l=anywhere&vjk=cb70f535f4f5de48&advn=4317892059899432) It's not personal, it's business: Looking for ultimate values in faith groups is revealing. Nathan continues contra-certainty crusade IdolatryAn idol is usually a good thing that we make ultimate. We say, "Unless I have that, I am nothing."— Timothy Keller (@timkellernyc) February 16, 2014 Book: The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns (https://www.amazon.com/Sin-Certainty-Desires-Correct-Beliefs/dp/0062272098/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22UDI8G49SL8V&keywords=the+sin+of+certainty&qid=1650382977&s=books&sprefix=the+sin+of+certainty%2Cstripbooks%2C110&sr=1-1) Trust vs. Certainty Hebrews 11:1 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2011:1-2&version=NIV) Data over Dogma (https://www.followingthefire.com/47) Buddhism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism) Discovery of disease spread though water (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1854_Broad_Street_cholera_outbreak) What stars are made of (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star#Chemical_composition) Materialism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism) Catholic Bible different from Protestant Bible (https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/why-are-protestant-and-catholic-bibles-different.html) All scripture is useful for… (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%203%3A16-17&version=NIV) If I know all things but have not love…. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13%3A1-3&version=NIV) Jesus rebukes biblical scholars for getting priorities wrong: Matthew 23:23-24 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A23-24&version=NRSV) Canonization (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon) Common Book of Prayer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Common_Prayer) Book: Faith After Doubt by Brian McLaren (https://www.amazon.com/Faith-After-Doubt-Beliefs-Stopped/dp/1250262771) Greatest Command: Matthew 3:36-40 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022%3A36-40&version=NIV) Possible geographic errors in Mark? (https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/e5iiew/question_about_current_scholarly_consensus_on/) Genitive vs. Dative (https://daedalus.umkc.edu/FirstGreekBook/JWW_FGB3.html#:~:text=The%20genitive%20expresses%20the%20relationships,with%20what%20something%20is%20done.) Morocco mosque (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Youssef_Mosque) Phil 2:6-11 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202%3A6-11&version=NIV) Video: Raiders of the Lost ark (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcR9k8o4I0w)

Arise to Doubt and Discover Trust (Church Retreat 2022) - Dr. Peter Enns Our speaker for this year, Dr. Peter Enns, shared a message of “Arising to Doubt and Discovering Trust.” Peter teaches Biblical Studies at Eastern University, loves the Bible, and enjoys telling stories about everyday normal people and their struggles with the ancient, weird, and sometimes bizarre stories found there. BIO Peter Enns (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University (St. Davids, PA). He has taught undergraduate, seminary, and doctoral courses at numerous other schools, including Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and Temple University.  Enns speaks and writes regularly to diverse audiences about the intersection of the ancient setting of Bible and contemporary Christian faith. He is also the host of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People, blogs at https://peteenns.com/ (peteenns.com), and has written, edited, and contributed to over 20 books, including The Sin of Certainty, The Bible Tells Me So, and most recently How the Bible Actually Works.Enns resides in suburban Philadelphia with his wife Susan. Listen to ‘The Bible for Normal People': https://this-is-whole-life.captivate.fm/the-bible-for-normal-people (https://this-is-whole-life.captivate.fm/the-bible-for-normal-people) or wherever you listen to podcasts! ■ Text/Voicemail:  407-965-1607 ■ Email:  podcast@wholelife.church SUBSCRIBE NOW to our weekly podcast Speaking of Grace to listen to the message this podcast was based on - https://speaking-of-grace.captivate.fm/listen (https://speaking-of-grace.captivate.fm/listen) Our weekly message from the WholeLife Church and all of our #WholeLifeTakeAways are in each episodes ‘show notes' for you to listen, discuss, and share with family and friends. The previous weekend's sermon is released every Tuesday with our pastors and guest speakers inviting you into a lifelong friendship with God.   Thank you for listening!  Our show is available everywhere you listen to podcasts!  If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with your family, friends, and on social media where you will find us at the following links!  Follow and say hello!  Twitter: https://twitter.com/wholelifeorl (https://twitter.com/wholelifeorl)  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wholelifeorlando (https://www.facebook.com/wholelifeorlando) Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/wholelifeorlando (https://www.instagram.com/wholelifeorlando)  NEXT WEEK 4/2/22:  Arise to Love At Work -Boxing God by Ken Wetmore Watch the message that this episode is based on using our website:  https://wholelife.church/sermons/ (https://wholelife.church/sermons/) To find out more about WholeLife Church visit our website:  https://WholeLife.Church (https://WholeLife.Church) Use the #hashtags:  #WholeLifePodcast #WholeLifeReflections #ThisIsWholeLife #ThisIsUS #TheVelvetSledgeHammer #ARISE #WholeLifeRetreat

In this week's episode, Ryan and Brian talk about the relevancy of the Bible. One of our listeners asked us about a book called "How the Bible Actually Works" by Peter Enns. So, Ryan and Brian take a look at the claims of the book, what they agree and disagree with, and what the means for everyone reading the Bible today. Here are some alternative books to read if you are interested in the topic: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition : https://amzn.to/3AcbDL8 (https://amzn.to/3AcbDL8) The Lost World of Scripture: Ancient Literary Culture and Biblical Authority : https://amzn.to/3nBqJo7 (https://amzn.to/3nBqJo7) Support the Bistro: https://www.patreon.com/thebiblebistro (https://www.patreon.com/thebiblebistro)

Hidden Gems: How deconstruction can help us find deeper meaning For most churches these days, the Old Testament is a collection of exciting and shocking stories for kids' Bible class. When we're older, we assume we've learned what the stories have to teach us and we hardly ever revisit them from an adult perspective. An unexpected upside of deconstruction can be that, when we DO re-think these OT stories, there are layers upon layers of meaning. Intro * Steve (somehow) falls asleep in the MRI (https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mri/about/pac-20384768) * Pandora (https://www.pandora.com) * Iron & Wine (http://ironandwine.com) * Parkinson's disease (https://www.michaeljfox.org/parkinsons-101) * United Church of Christ (https://www.ucc.org) * Plymouth Congregational church (https://www.plymouthucc.org/) * Nathan's renovating in the dark Story of Uzzah * Uzzah (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzzah) - 2 Samuel 6:3–8 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+6%3A3-8&version=NRSV) Why Uzzah? * Responsibilities of Levi's sons - Numbers 3 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%203&version=NIV) * “…curtain of the temple was torn in two…” - Matthew 27:50-51 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27%3A50-51&version=NRSV) * Hebrews 9 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+9&version=NRSV) * “Approach God with confidence” - Hebrews 4:16 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+4%3A16&version=NRSV) * “if the ministry that brought death…ministry of the spirit bring life” - 2 Corinthians 3 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians+3&version=NIV) Why tear things down? * Cardboard building blocks (https://amzn.to/3kFDgFM) * Nathan's house has secret, magical rooms * Jewish Mysticism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_mysticism) * Nadab & Abihu offering strange fire - Leviticus 10 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2010&version=NIV) * Achan's story - Joshua 7 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+7&version=NRSV) * Noah's story - Genesis 6-9 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6-9&version=NRSV) * Lot's story - Genesis 19 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+19&version=NRSV) * Podcast: the Bible for Normal People (https://peteenns.com) * Book: “How the Bible Actually Works” by Peter Enns (https://amzn.to/3Fr8VCW) * Book: “Faith After Doubt” by Brian McLaren (https://amzn.to/3nnzq60) * “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” - Matthew 11:28-30 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A28-30&version=NRSV)

If we walk with Jesus for any length of time, we're bound to run into moments where doubt creeps in. Sometimes we have huge doubts (does God even exist?). Other times, we find places where we can't be certain that God is good or that He'll what we ask. We're joined today by one of our pastors, Steve Englund, to talk about doubt and faith. Steve offers us the liberating truth that Jesus is ok with our doubt and uncertainty as long as we stay close to Him. He goes on to share about some practical ways we can walk through doubt well. Resources: -The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns

Peter Enns (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University (St. Davids, PA). He has taught undergraduate, seminary, and doctoral courses at numerous other schools, including Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and Temple University.  Enns speaks and writes regularly to diverse audiences about the intersection of the ancient setting of the Bible and contemporary Christian faith. He is also the host of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People, blogs at peteenns.com, and has written, edited, and contributed to over 20 books, including The Sin of Certainty, The Bible Tells Me So, and most recently How the Bible Actually Works. Enns resides in suburban Philadelphia with his wife Susan.THE BIBLE FOR NORMAL PEOPLE:https://open.spotify.com/show/2991KOQDSOZK59jopj5jjv?si=btDSYW3uQ8W3Obh21fUdaQ&dl_branch=1this podcast was recorded on October 12th, 2021

The Bible is a book that has had a lot of influence on millions of people and for many it can cause a lot of questions and doubts in their faith. On this episode I talk with Pete Enns on the Bible and How the Bible Actually Works. Pete offers insights on the Bible along with how to work through faith & doubt in the midst of working through struggles with the Bible. Check out some of Pete's resources here: https://peteenns.com/books/books-for-normal-people/Also check out The Bible for Normal People Podcast! 

This week we interview Dr. Peter Enns, our former Bible professor at Eastern University. We share some funny memories, talk about some of Pete's catch phrases like "Welcome to adult Bible reading," and get Pete's take on deconstruction. Pete reframes the idea of deconstruction as "disorientation," explaining how a lot of our faith journey involves growing pains when we really take the Bible seriously. You won't want to miss it! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week, David Beavis, B4's Middle School Pastor joins Alex and Ashleigh to discuss the uniqueness of Gen Z and what it looks like to walk with them in grace and truth. — Resources — James 2:17 Faith without works is dead The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns this book looks at the concept […]

43:48 begins the segment on the Text & Theology of Scripture Clarification: At 1:30:15 Dane begins talking about Peter Enns and puts forward Enns' view on Scripture, which states, that because Jesus had a sinful human nature that COULD err, so too the Scriptures have a human nature that DOES err. Dane is not saying that Jesus has a sinful human nature. We reject that false Doctrine. Taylor DeSoto's blog: https://youngtextlessreformed.com/ How to bring your church to the TR position: http://www.agroschurch.com/blog/a-pastoral-guide-for-implementing-the-received-text

A huge thanks to Joseph McDade for his generous permission to use his music: https://josephmcdade.com/ Discord Discussion Board: https://disboard.org/server/474580298630430751  Greg Boyd's “The Crucifixion of the Warrior God:” https://www.amazon.com/Crucifixion-Warrior-God-Volumes-ebook/dp/B06XRL77G1/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Crucifixion+of+the+warrior+god&qid=1566062395&s=gateway&sr=8-2 Boyd's shorter version called “Cross Vision:” https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Vision-Crucifixion-Testament-Violence-ebook/dp/B074GJSPNZ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Crucifixion+of+the+warrior+god&qid=1566062407&s=gateway&sr=8-3 Tim Mackie interview on violence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWDGYaIjWsM Mackie's six part series on violence, wrath, and the Day of the Lord: https://thebibleproject.simplecast.com/episodes/903c95d5-903c95d5 Transcript of Mackie's Day of the Lord Q&R, bottom ⅓ is the relevant portion: https://thebibleproject.com/podcast/day-lord-question-response/transcript/ A small taste of Matthew Flannigan's work on violence of the conquest, but he also has other writings which are great that delve into Ancient Near East language similarities with phrases from the Old Testament: https://web.archive.org/web/20130425115801/http://www.mandm.org.nz/2010/01/sunday-study-joshua-and-the-genocide-of-the-canaanites-part-i.html  Matthew Fleischer's "The Old Testament Case for Nonviolence:" https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Case-Nonviolence-ebook/dp/B078RWXDS9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+old+testament+case+for+nonviolence&qid=1575549606&sr=8-1 Boyd's "Inspired Imperfection" on how to interpret the Bible: https://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Imperfection-Problems-Enhance-Authority/dp/150645562X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=inspired+imperfection&qid=1578663381&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzQU5IT1RMT0NST1c2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTEzMTA2MTVUUlYzM1NaMjgxUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzEzNTA3MzFTQjc3R0E1MDFLSyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= How the Bible Actually Works by Peter Enns: https://www.amazon.com/How-Bible-Actually-Works-Answers-ebook/dp/B079L6HVVR/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=how+the+bible+actually+works&qid=1589155262&sr=8-1 Eric Seibert's "The Violence of Scripture:" https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Scripture-Overcoming-Testaments-Troubling-ebook/dp/B00APJRLRG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+violence+of+scripture&qid=1575549459&sr=8-1 George Macdonald "The Higher Faith" Ch. 3: https://archive.org/details/unspokensermons_1205_librivox ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Retired NYC Transit Police Officer Christine McIntyre returns to the show. She talks about her long and successful recovery from P.T.S.D. after a near death knife attack. Plus, Peter Enns from CESail.com joins us to discuss their incredible First Responder Cruises for First Responders, their families and friends. Theme song Hurricane used by permission from the band Dark Horse Flyer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perhaps you've experienced moments of doubt about your religious faith. Or maybe you're one of the people who find doubt to be a more frequent companion in your spiritual life. Either way, doubt can be unsettling and uncomfortable. Biblical scholar Peter Enns suggests that part of the problem is that many Christians have come to prize certainty as a hallmark of true faith in God. His new book is called The Sin of Certainty. Drawing on history, scripture, and personal experiences, Enns argues that believers can handle the most difficult questions if they stop needing to be right all the time and instead focus more on trusting God. “Doubt,” he writes, “is only the enemy of faith when we equate faith with certainty.” About Peter Enns Peter Enns is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. His books include Inspiration and Incarnation, The Bible Tells Me So, and The Evolution of Adam. His most recent book is called The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our “Correct” Beliefs.The post The Sin of Certainty, with Peter Enns [MIPodcast #54] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.