I picked up this book today and started reading it with great anticipation. Nicholas Perrin is a current Assistant Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and was formerly the research assistant for our dear Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright. The book is entitled Lost in Transmission? What We Can Know About the Words of Jesus and is aimed at Bart Ehrman’s best seller Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (My chapter by chapter review of Misquoting Jesus can be found here).
I will be sure to give a full review of Perrin’s new book in the near future. As for now I wanted to post this quote from the introduction to the book because I found it both truthful and profound. I also believe that it can be applied not only the issues of textual criticism and the historical veracity of the Gospels, but also in current discussions on ANE literature and the Hebrew Bible.
While talking about evidence that confronts the beliefs of Christians, Perrin writes:
If following Jesus means anything, it means living a life of integrity and therefore also a life that steadily refuses to participate in the obstruction of truth. But people can be tempted to suppress the truth when they feel something precious will be lost if the truth comes out. That is why, in the trafficking of ideas, we must be wary of the faux pearl of great price, the sense of stability that accompanies the delusive conviction that we have thoroughly and decisively made sense of the world. When people succumb to that temptation of ignoring challenges to their faith, they are in the end demonstrating that they are more committed to the feeling of having a lock on the truth than to the truth itself. When Christians succumb to the same temptation, there is the added temptation of justifying their intellectual disengagement by appealing to faith or the Holy Spirit or something like that. Not only does this rationale shut down a discussion that is probably worth having; it also usually has more to do with intellectual laziness or megalomania than anything remotely biblical or divine. No one should be readier than the Christian to explore the truth… (Lost in Transmission, xxi, emphasis mine).
20 August 2008 at 3.54 pm
Interesting ideas here, Art.
I was watching “The Atheism Tapes” this week and philosopher Daniel Dennett said something like, ‘I don’t believe in God, nor do I believe in belief in God’. This came just after explaining that he found more people who had belief in the belief in God rather than belief in God.
Its a similar point to Perrin’s and one that recent experiences have brought to my mind on many occasions.
For me, and this could easily betray arrogance, faith that can be “destroyed” by anything is not that genuine. Nothing can separate from the love of Christ, not even Enuma Elish.
I understand that we are weak (some weaker than others) and I certainly don’t want to unduly burden someone struggling with or striving for faith. Even still, real faith is not ruined by wisdom or knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge serve faith.
Lastly, the “faux pearl of great price” is convicting for me. Whatever I believe to be of utmost of importance, I must not hold it too tightly. I could be mistaking fool’s gold for precious metal.
20 August 2008 at 3.59 pm
Thanks for bringing this up Art. I will look forward to reading this.
It should be especially interesting given that Perrin is at Wheaton, where scholars such as Beale work—who participates in the obstruction of truth because he feels something precious will be lost if the truth comes out (even if he is unconscious of this to some extent or sees himself as doing something else), who is more committed to “the feeling of having a lock on the truth than to the truth itself,” etc. At least, this is how I view much of Beale’s work.
In my experience Perrin engages in honest scholarship with an awareness of the various “hard issues.” It should be exciting to read his take on some of the issues Ehrman raises. I expect Perrin will actually engage the issues rather than try to convince people they do not exist (as most “responses” to Ehrman from the Evangelical world have done). At times I suspect Perrin will acknowledge ways Ehrman is onto something, perhaps repackaging it (them) in ways that seem less hostile to Evangelicals than some of Ehrman’s more popular level writings.
21 August 2008 at 12.44 pm
We do believe in God. Although Science cannot either prove or disprove the existence of God, we can always find out grounds for our faith in God and the supernatural. It is not blind faith at all. We can find grounds in the Bible (or in the Gospels, more specifically) for our faith: documentary, historical, theological evidence.
Theology means faith seeking understanding. We should deepen our faith. Science can help us to understand better what we believe in. “Religion without Science is blind, Science without Religion is lame”.
We should carry on our dialogue with Science so as to deepen our Faith.
Dr.Ivo da C.Souza
26 August 2008 at 11.07 pm
Gracious me…..another tremendously written & persuasive post….and Oh, my goodness….where on earth can you be found Dr.Ivo daC. Souza….if it isn’t so!!! Amen. If my son Jeremy were here, and engaged in these inspiring writings; with his persception of the sciences;, AND the understandings of religion–I’d say he’d jump on board with a Realness of God, and His True Existence! I pray for daily I do. Had a full dose of the instructions of religion & the sciences at Oxford…and religion beliefs presented it seems…… hummmmm….than, on a more personal note: the comment made of “Certain people (christians persue’) making mention of “If we tell the whole Truth” …we could therefore loose something of great posssession; or rather the greatness of gems and their lustriousnesses”…..hummmm; small comment than: a definate need to make mention of; “One Hand Washes The Other”
So, when we look to our earthly Leaders being so adorned by God–having the hands laid upon them too act in a likeness of God….hummmmm….example: a poor & needy barrenness lovely woman; having her own need for small purgings of Truth..lies in wait for her brothers to “See to it”….what would God Do..Truth—recently, I just told a fellow detective friend of mine–”No One seemingly tells the truth anymore or if ever at all”…it’s always left at the way side…eventually too destroy them from their own prides”–not in any helps of succumming a lovely women in distress , but, rather…a thorn our leaders give; fall into Sin themselves. “”Truth—starts with…..The Truth”"–you can read it through someones eyes- if given the gift of discerning…
I’d rather be a garland of fine gems before God with all of the truth…than be a prickilly thorn of dead branches that satan will squash soon.. “Truth Matters All Around”…Gifts of God He lays before us….but, not from proud men——including lady barrenesses….
27 September 2008 at 12.50 pm
Your posting confused me. I do not know what you mean to say.
If you accept God and live accordingly, good. That is the right way. We need not find any incompatibility between Science and Religion, between Reason and Faith. Wherever we may be, we can help people in finding the Truth. I suppose that you are also searching God and finding him in your own way. May God bless us all!
27 September 2008 at 1.32 pm
icsouza: I agree that we do not need to find any incompatibility between science and Scripture, so long as we understand Scripture correctly and judge it according to what it is attempting to say. This post and the quote included in the post refer to people who hold a doctrine of Scripture which leads them to ignore or pass over incompatibilities that are caused not by Scripture itself, but by their understanding of Scripture.
23 October 2008 at 2.04 pm
Let us bear in mind that Christian Scriptures do not teach us Science. It is a message of salvation for humankind. It is historical and entails a view of those times as far as scientific and sociological views are concerned. Therefore, there is no incompatibility between Science and Bible. I can admire the world by studying Science deeply and love it as a creation of God. God is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega (cf.Rv 1:18).
Dr.Ivo da Conceiçao Souza (Goa, India)