OPP

A few perhaps surprising gleanings from Jonathan Edwards’s comments on Romans, illustrative of the OPP, the Old Perspective on Paul. All from David Lovi and Benjamin Westerhoff, The Power of God: A Jonathan Edwards Commentary on the Book of Romans . Edwards recognizes, as Calvin did, that the . . . . Continue Reading »

Theory of sacrifice

Isaiah 57:7 contains a neat and tiny theory of sacrifice. It’s set up in a parallel structure: A. On a mountain high and lifted up B. You set your bed A’. Even there B’. you ascended to sacrifice. Or a little chiasm: A. On a mountain high and lifted up B. You set your bet . . . . Continue Reading »

Draw near

Isaiah (or Yahweh) issues an ironic invitation to “draw near” (57:3). It’s an invitation to liturgical approach ( qarab , regularly used in Exodus and Leviticus), immediately undercut by the identification of Israel as “sons of the diviner, seed of adulteress and . . . . Continue Reading »

Why the good die

Isaiah 57:1 is a convoluted sentence in Hebrew, beginning and ending with the same word ( tsadiq , “righteous one”) and stuttering all along the way. But the parallel of the first two clauses makes an essential point clear: A. The righteous one perishes B. And there is no man unto heart . . . . Continue Reading »

Paul the Heretic?

Paul employs patronage terminology with some frequency, and in 1 Corinthians he employs it mainly to secure his position against rivals for patronage of the Corinthian church. So argues Joshua Rice in Paul and Patronage: The Dynamics of Power in 1 Corinthians . Paul names himself father in 4:15, . . . . Continue Reading »

Paul and the Synagogue

In his recently published Paul and the Synagogue: Romans and the Isaiah Targum , Delio DelRio attempts to explain the force of Paul’s unique phrase “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). He explores the use that Paul makes of Isaiah, and the interpretation of the prophecy found in the . . . . Continue Reading »

Violence and the soul

“Whenever we meet a human being, then, we meet that extraordinary creature who can think of time past and time to come, and times that never were,” writes Anthony Esolen in an essay on “the Subhumanities.” To reduce a human to his animal instincts is an act of violence: . . . . Continue Reading »

Middle East Christians and US

Newly installed as chairman of US International Freedom Commission, Robert George laments the decline of Christianity in Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere in the Middle East . He urges the US to make the projection of Christians a high priority: “In Egypt, I think we need to put pressure on the . . . . Continue Reading »