Sandra L. Richter

As always, the gathering at Exiles in Babylon was full of serious inquiry and lively debate. Grateful to get to be a part.

Preston Sprinkle Theology in the Raw

Newest installment of "Is the Bible Historically Reliable" is up and ready. The question: "What does ancient history-writing look like?"
https://sandralrichter.substack.com/p/is-the-bible-historically-reliable-2fa

Hey everyone, so sorry for this last minute announcement, but JD Walt of Seedbed and Asbury fame and I are leading a webinar on the Exodus TOMORROW! JD has a new book coming out with Zondervan and I am delighted to be his conversation partner as the Zondervan/Harper Collins team puts the book forward. Here's the link to register.

Thursday May 14, 12:00 noon PT / 2:00 pm CT. Explore how the seeds of Exodus do not bear fruit of desolation, but instead grows in us a life of Grace. Register here:

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: JD Walt and Sandra Richter on Exodus. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: JD Walt and Sandra Richter on Exodus. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Alright team, here you go. This will come in three installments, and yes, there will be an exam at the end … ok, not really🙃

Is the Bible Historically Reliable? Or should we just talk about something else?

Graduation Day at Westmont College! Every spring we get to celebrate four years of teaching and discipleship and the fabulous young men and women who we’ve had the privilege of teaching. There certainly is stuff about this job that isn’t, as Junie B. Jones would say, “delightful,” but on graduation day, there’s nothing to count but joy!

So many of you have asked me for some sort of recap on the "Is The Bible Historically Reliable?" dialogue/debate between me and Pete Enns at the 2026 Exiles conference in Minneapolis this past week. My understanding is that Preston Sprinkle's crew will be making the video available to the general public eventually. So you can get the full story there. In the meantime ...

My synopsis of the conversations is that the question posed never really got a place at the table. I did indeed offer a presentation on what "history, historicity, and historiography" are, how ancient and modern history-writing differ, and what the rules of the game are in scholarship for demonstrating historicity for an ancient text. I argued that based on current scholarship, the Bible offers us at least two very respectable national histories, and I raised a number of biblical events as topics for debate.

My colleague Peter Enns ("The Bible for Normal People") presented as well, which was followed by a "couch conversation." But Pete was not interested in talking about issues of history or historicity, rather he wanted to discuss transmission and interpretation. Specifically, Pete was focused on his discontent with the character of the God portrayed in the Bible (Genesis 6 and the flood in particular). He argued that the portrayal of God in these narratives is the result of biblical authors who were writing what they thought was true, but these portrayals are not actually a true description of either the flood itself or the God of the Bible. If you were watching, you saw me point out that although these are interesting questions, they are not questions of history or historicity--but, unfortunately, we never returned to the topic of the day.

I enjoyed reconnecting with an old friend (Pete and I went to Harvard together), but I was disappointed that the important issues we'd gathered to discuss were sidestepped. I was also concerned that issues of historicity and issues of tradition/interpretation were blended without distinction. Reality is that a proper understanding of what "history" is, and the historicity of the histories incorporated into the biblical text are very important to a faith built upon an Exodus and an Empty Tomb. They deserve our attention.

I'd be interested in comments from any of you who attended or streamed in. Know that I will be making my material on history/historicity/ historiography available in "The Old Testament in Its World" that I am currently writing with Tremper Longman and Nancy Erickson for Zondervan (if we're lucky that will be a late 2027 release). And ... if you nudge and needle me I can likely write something up for Substack as well :)

Hi everyone! I know that Amazon has offered some shifts in release dates, but this one is Harper and this one is firm! So gather your people and get those Fall Bible study groups ready because the Epic of Eden Bible study goes on-sale August 18!

Super excited about being with the good folk of Exiles. This is always such a great gathering of people so passionate about doing it right. If you’re struggling, and want to see “authentic,” join us!

preston.sprinkle theologyintheraw

So looking forward to this weekend. Click the link in my bio to visit my website and learn more.

Preston Sprinkle Theology in the Raw

In celebration of submitting my proof pages for the 2nd edition of Epic (rejoice with me!!), I've put together a little rant on biblical hermeneutics (adapted from the new edition) that I hope you will enjoy!

https://sandralrichter.substack.com/p/please-dont-mistake-your-google-search