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The Bible as a Great Book

From the Aug/Sept 2021 Print Edition

Leon Kass, best known for his work in the field of bioethics, including his service on President Bush’s Council, has established himself also as a formidable interpreter of the Bible. In 2003, he published his commentary on the Book of Genesis, a volume that gathered accolades from many reviewers. . . . . Continue Reading »

Heavenly Treasure

From the May 2015 Print Edition

The Ransom of the Soul: 
Afterlife and Wealth in Early Western Christianity
 by peter brown 
harvard, 288 pages, $24.95 In the opening pages of this book, Peter Brown declares that he will “compare two ages—the world of the early church in the late second and third centuries and the early . . . . Continue Reading »

Infinite Circle

From the January 2015 Print Edition

Gratitude: An Intellectual History? by peter j. leithart? baylor, 350 pages, $49.95 Peter Leithart’s Gratitude: An Intellectual History is a creative, insightful, and ambitious book. It takes its point of departure from the voluminous literature on the subject of the gift. Though the topic has . . . . Continue Reading »

Homo Immolans

From the December 2012 Print Edition

On Sacrifice by Moshe Halbertal Princeton, 152 pages, $24.95 Moshe Halbertal, a professor of Jewish thought at both New York and Hebrew Universities, writes books with very large theses. His first publication treated the theme of idolatry and a subsequent book the nature of the religious canon. His . . . . Continue Reading »

The Man Who Would Be King

From the January 2011 Print Edition

1 Samuel: Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible by Francesca Aran Murphy Brazos, 336 pages, $34.99 He has never seen another field of study quite like it, says a political philosopher who follows biblical scholarship. The typical journal article offers a series of limitless speculations about . . . . Continue Reading »

What Gallio Didn’t Know

From Web Exclusives

The relationship of the Church to the social order has been long and vexed. At the forefront in the modern era has been the relationship of Church to state. After enjoying, for over a millennium, certain supervisory powers, the Church has abandoned any interest in possessing direct power over the state… . Continue Reading »

Collected Letters

From the June/July 2009 Print Edition

The Church’s Guide for ­Reading Paul: The Canonical Shaping of the Pauline Corpus by Brevard S. Childs Eerdmans, 288 pages, $28 paper When the history of biblical scholarship for the twentieth century is written, a prominent spot will be given to Brevard Childs. Trained in Europe, he . . . . Continue Reading »