Controversy in Philadelphia

Professor Peter Enns wrote a book called Inspiration and Incarnation as a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Over the course of the next couple of years, it aroused a controversy, enough that the Board of Trustees thought an investigation should take place. The controversy was deepened when the Faculty of the Seminary voted to uphold and support their colleague.

It made me flash back in my history lessons to the Faculty and Administration divisions at Princeton Theological Seminary in the 1920’s that precipitated the creation of WTS in the first place.

I finally found time to read the book, then spent some time online researching the difficulties, and have been pondering how this affects the Christian Nation.

I listened to Peter Enns being interviewed on Radio Times on the Philadelphia Public Radio Station. That is about as mainline media as I think WTS has ever managed. There we have the Lord moving a controversy to allow a minister of the gospel to speak.

Of course, if there had been a heresy trial, we might have had front page headlines. But WTS and Prof. Enns seem to have had a friendly parting of the ways. That opens another question for me, that of which denomination would take the lead in that. WTS trains pastors mainly for the PCA and the OPC. I do not know Prof. Enns’ denominational affiliation.

I like the book and I like the way the title challenges us-although I do not agree with everything in it. Jesus is God incarnate, God made human, and we have to get our minds around that. The bible is God’s Word incarnate, God’s word made human and we have to get our minds around that as well.

That is a ‘fundamental’ issue for every Christian.