Whenever a self-confessed evangelical releases a book entitled anything close to The Sin of Certainty, it bears the weight of a second glance. Enns is already one of my favorite authors having won me over with The Bible Tells me So, but if that weren’t the case before now, this book would have sealed the deal. Now more than ever, we need a constant reminder of our own idolatry of self and our opinions. Far too often opinion becomes fact, which bypasses all reason and becomes truth. This vicious cycle affects us most deeply in our theological discussions.
Without wasting any time, Enns plunges right into the discussion of his own shaking and the subsequent removal of [theological] certainty in much of his life. In typical fashion, there’s enough humor to keep the reader from remembering they’re actually reading a piece of pretty deep theology. Many will wish this book had come along earlier in their journey, as I did. To have the freedom to be unsure while thinking about a being whose existence is best described as “is” doesn’t demolish our foundation, but it does let us play around in the dirt a bit.
In an era of political certainty, economic certainty and religious certainty, it would seem that there is a call to remember that we are not bound to specific expressions of faith, rather to explore them as needed and move on when the time comes. In short, Enns has delivered yet another to-be-read-frequently volume to my ever increasing library. Problem is, the book necessitates the removal of a few others.
It also pairs quite well with a Belgian Ale. (I chose fat tire).
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