--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ours is a historical faith, and to uproot…" description: "\"“Ours is a historical faith, and to uproot the Bible from its historical contexts is self-contradictory.”\" — Peter Enns" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12c/peter-enns-28232_bible_ours-is-a-historical-faith-and-to-uproot_448646.png" --- # Ours is a historical faith, and to uproot the Bible from… ![“Ours is a historical faith, and to uproot the Bible from its historical contexts is self-contradictory.” quote by Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12c/peter-enns-28232_bible_ours-is-a-historical-faith-and-to-uproot_448646.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12c/peter-enns-28232_bible_ours-is-a-historical-faith-and-to-uproot_448646.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12c/peter-enns-28232_bible_ours-is-a-historical-faith-and-to-uproot_448646.png) > ““Ours is a historical faith, and to uproot the Bible from its historical contexts is self-contradictory.”” [Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-enns/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He claims that removing biblical texts from their historical setting undermines their meaning and leads to contradictions. **In simple terms:** Biblical context matters for meaning. Key Takeaway Respect historical context. Themes faith history interpretation theology Mood thoughtful reflective Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - sermon preparation - academic study - personal belief - interfaith dialogue Key Concepts hermeneutics historical criticism Questions to Reflect On - What does context reveal about faith? - Can belief survive without historical grounding? A Different Perspective Historical analysis may conflict with doctrinal claims. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [“laboratory. Ours is not a ‘lab faith,’ but a ‘journey faith,’ a historical faith. God has revealed himself as history, not as a compendium of abstract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/laboratory-ours-is-not-a-lab-faith-but-a-journey-faith-a-historical/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It goes a long way back, some twenty years. All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/it-goes-a-long-way-back-some-twenty-years-all-my-life-i-had-been/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Son, the phrase is self-contradictory; "sense" is never "common".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/son-the-phrase-is-self-contradictory-sense-is-never-common/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Caution! Be very careful of false, meaningless, self-contradictory, and not even very funny warnings, like this one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/caution-be-very-careful-of-false-meaningless-self-contradictory-and/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [Over against any cognition, there is an unknown but knowable reality; but over against all possible cognition, there is only the self-contradictory. In short,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/over-against-any-cognition-there-is-an-unknown-but-knowable-reality/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [“The idea that there is some kind of contradiction between the in-depth study of God’s Word, so as to know what God has revealed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robert-white/the-idea-that-there-is-some-kind-of-contradiction-between-the-in/) [James Robert White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robert-white/) > [“For thirty years now I have been studying my fellow-men. I do not know very much about them. I should certainly hesitate to engage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/for-thirty-years-now-i-have-been-studying-my-fellow-men-i-do-not-know/) [W. 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T. Pierson said, “History is His story.” What is written helps us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-w-wiersbe/the-bible-records-a-great-deal-of-history-but-as-dr-a-t-pierson-said/) [Warren W. Wiersbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-w-wiersbe/) > [All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/all-my-life-i-had-been-looking-for-something-and-everywhere-i-turned-2/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) ## More by Peter Enns > [“I find it strangely comforting that walking the path of Christian faith means being confronted moment by moment with what is counterintuitive and ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-enns/i-find-it-strangely-comforting-that-walking-the-path-of-christian/) [Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-enns/) > [“No attempt should be made to "reconcile" Yahweh's hardening of Pharaoh's heart (plagues 6,8,9,10) with statements in the other plagues that Pharaoh hardened his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-enns/no-attempt-should-be-made-to-reconcile-yahweh-s-hardening-of-pharaoh/) [Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-enns/) > [“The Bible isn’t a cookbook—deviate from the recipe and the soufflé falls flat. 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Knowing something of when the Pentateuch came to be, even generally, affects our understanding of why it was produced in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-enns/this-is-extremely-significant-knowing-something-of-when-the/) [Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-enns/) > [“The Pentateuch was not authored out of whole cloth by a second-millennium Moses but is the end product of a complex literary process—written, oral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-enns/the-pentateuch-was-not-authored-out-of-whole-cloth-by-a-second/) [Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-enns/) > [“Repetition and familiarity work. What is repeated becomes familiar, and this becomes a part of us. 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