Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 49:2 (Jun 2006)
Article: Response To G. K. Beale’s Review Article Of Inspiration And Incarnation
Author: Peter E. Enns

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JETS 49:2 (June 2006) p. 313

Response To G. K. Beale’s Review Article Of
Inspiration And Incarnation

Peter Enns*

I would like to thank JETS for inviting me to respond to Prof. Greg Beale’s review of my book, Inspiration and Incarnation.1 Although the review is almost entirely critical of the book, I appreciate Prof. Beale’s attempt to present its contents in as thorough and objective a manner as possible. Criticism and response are important components of continued progress in evangelical theology, and Beale’s review can serve as a basis for such progress. However, the disagreements I have with the review are many and thoroughgoing. I will first address some preliminary but vital issues, and then move to a few areas of substantive disagreement.

I will begin by reiterating the book’s aim and target audience. It is important to do this, for Beale does not give these matters due consideration. This persistently yields a reading of my book that is at odds not only with my stated intention but also with the implicit and explicit genre indicators of the book.2 I appreciate the fact that Beale cites me at length on more than one occasion in an effort to allow me to speak for myself. But if a critique is founded on a faulty reading strategy, citations, no matter how lengthy, will not contribute to bringing clarity to an author’s intention. Conversely, real and important differences—or at least areas of needed discussion—might become obscured.

Plainly put, Inspiration and Incarnation is neither an academic treatise nor a systematic theology nor an introduction to Scripture. Rather, its aim is to reach a lay evangelical audience for which the human element of Scripture (to use Warfield’s term)3 presents an obstacle to confessing that the Bible is

* Peter Enns is professor of Old Testament and biblical hermeneutics at Westminster Theological Seminary, 2960 West Church Road, Glenside, PA 19038.

JETS 49:2 (June 2006) p. 314

God’s Word. Such a scenario is not restricted to graduate students, nor even to college students taking Bible courses in secular and hostile settings. In many popular contexts, whether it be Time, Newsweek, PBS, or the History Channel, the latest “important discovery” is touted as “Exhibit A” for how the Bible is not the Word of God.4

My primary audience, therefore, is evangelical (and therefore already exposed to Scripture and shaped by evangelical doctrine) and non-academic (and therefore ill-equipped to handle...

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