Peter Enns suspended from Westminster Seminary

One of my favorite professors at Westminster Theological Seminary was suspended today for his new book Inspiration and Incarnation.

It’s too bad. Prof. Peter Enns was very intelligent and I never had impression that he was somehow undermining the Gospel, even as Calvinists understand it. He was always very conservative with respect to OT criticism. I found him helpful because he taught us to see that God uses cultural values and signs of the ancient Semitic context in order to communicate His love for Israel. I’ll have to take a look at the book to find out its “heresy” so-called.

The thing is this, the board and donors of WTS are afraid that anything that doesn’t sound and look like the lay “scholarship” of 145 page R.C. Sproul books is somehow suspect. And in the end, money talks. The same thing happened to Norman Shepherd.

Here’s the announcement:

March 27, 2008

Thank you very much for your prayers for the special meeting of the Board of Trustees that was held on March 26 to address the disunity of the faculty regarding the theological issues related to Dr. Peter Enns’ book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. After a full day of deliberation, the Board of Trustees took the following action by decisive vote:

“That for the good of the Seminary (Faculty Manual II.4.C.4) Professor Peter Enns be suspended at the close of this school year, that is May 23, 2008 (Constitution Article III, Section 15), and that the Institutional Personnel Committee (IPC) recommend the appropriate process for the Board to consider whether Professor Enns should be terminated from his employment at the Seminary. Further that the IPC present their recommendations to the Board at its meeting in May 2008.”

In order to provide the entire Westminster community with a more complete understanding of the Board’s decision and to offer an opportunity for questions and dialogue, the Chairman and Secretary of the Board will join the President on campus for a special chapel on Tuesday, April 1 at 10:30 am. Students and staff are encouraged to attend and participate. Following that special chapel, they will hold a separate meeting with the faculty.
Our concern is to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and assure a faithful witness for Westminster for years to come. To that end, please pray for everyone involved during the next two months.

Jack White
Chairman of the Board

Has anyone read the book in question?