As Christians, we have to be aware to not fall into the trap of finding ourselves reading more books about the Bible than we find ourselves actually reading the Bible itself. Don’t misunderstand me, there are many enlightening books that give us great insight to the understanding of the Bible. But, for true transformation and for real insight into what God wants for us and expects for us, we must be sure to spend time in the Holy Word.
With that said, this is one of the books about the Bible that is truly worth spending the time with. It gives such great insight into how to approach the Bible that it will definitely enhance anyone’s understanding of how to apply what we read to our daily lives.
The over-arching theme that Enns tries to get across is that the Bible is not a rule book that we can turn to page so-and-so when we need an answer to a particular problem. That idea may be disconcerting to some Christians, but hopefully you’ll come to understand that it is actually a good thing. If you have spent any significant time reading the Bible, you have come to realize that there are passages that seem to contradict each other. Advice or instruction given in one section can be found to to be the total opposite of advice or instruction given in another section. Enns goes on to say that this is not a flaw of the Scripture – it is instead designed that way. It is intended to guide us to a life of wisdom, not to just give out easy answers to our problems.
Enns goes on to posit that “reimagining God for one’s here and now is what Christians and Jews have been doing ever since there have been Christians and Jews” (Page 125.) There again, the idea of reimagining God may be a difficult concept for many. Many will say God is who God is. The idea of reimagining God seems to veer into the dangerous situation of saying man has created the image of God rather than God creating man in the image of God. That is far from what this biblical scholar is suggesting. In fact, as we read the Bible we see God referred to as a King, Shepherd, Fortress, etc. Those were images that were readily understood and accessible to the people of that time. Today, we just as easily refer to God as our co-pilot, or even better as our pilot. If we traveled back in time and tried to use that reference, the people would not understand the reference at all. God can remain holy and remain exactly who He is within the ever-changing ways we as people within our own cultures try to relate to Him.
Enns reminds us that “we are as distant from the time of King David (three thousand years ago, about 1000 BCE) as we are from the far distant future time of 5000 CE”. (Page 7). It is imperative that we approach the Bible trying to understand the context of when a particular book was written and to whom and what culture it was written to and for. In no way does this detract from the power of the Holy Scripture to speak to us today in our here and now. In fact, it is a testament to its power and wisdom that it is able to transcend time and place and still have relevance in our lives and the ability to connect us to God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
I highly encourage you to add this book to your reading list to discover how this ancient, ambiguous, and diverse book can lead you to Wisdom.
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Notes from a Book Nerd 