I’ll admit it.  I bought this book because of the controversy. If you’re unaware, read up on it here. I figured that anyone who wrote something that controversial deserved a read. I’m glad I read it.

This book conveys a sense of humility and intellectual honesty within a evangelical framework. The best part of this book is his willingness to state the questions boldly (15-16):

1. “Why does the Bible in places look a lot like the literature of Israel’s ancient neighbors? Is the Old Testament really that unique? Does it not just reflect the ancient world in which it was produced? If the Bible is the word of God, why does it fit so nicely in the ancient world?”
2. “Why do different parts of the Old Testament say different things about the same thing? It really seems as if there are contradictions, or at least large differences of opinion, in the Old Testament.”
3. “Why do the New Testament authors handle the Old Testament in such odd ways? It looks like they just take the Old Testament passages out of context.”

His thesis (as reflected in the title), is that scripture is analogous to the incarnation: fully God, fully man. We’ve tended to overemphasize the fully God bit, but we continue to uncover evidence that challenges us to consider what it means that scripture is fully human as well.

If you’ve ever dared to wonder about these things, pick up this book. It’s more than just controversy.  There are questions here that will set the future of Evangelicalism in general.

Enns, Peter. Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. Baker Books, 2008.