Russophiles, Anglophiles

Donald Rayfield reviews two recent essay collections on cultural relations between England and Russia in the TLS: Anthony Cross, A People Passing Rude: British Responses to Russian Culture and Russia in Britain, 1880-1940, edited by Rebecca Beasley and Philip Ross Bullock.The links . . . . Continue Reading »

Practical Texts?

Are the ritual texts of Leviticus “practical” texts designed to guide priests and people in sacrificial and other rituals?If so, argues Leigh Trevaskis in Holiness, Ethics, and Ritual in Leviticus, they don’t do a very good job of it. Too much is left out, and things that are . . . . Continue Reading »

Adam Israel

In a few places, Leviticus uses the Hebrew word adam to refer to “any person.” Why adam? Most commentators suggest that it’s to emphasize sexual inclusiveness. Trevaskis (Holiness, Ethics, and Ritual in Leviticus) thinks there’s more. He points out that the tabernacle is . . . . Continue Reading »

Presiding at Death

In his masterful study of ancient Greek Miasma, Robert Parker notes death was intensely defiling: “Extramural burial was the norm in almost all classical Greek cities. It would be shocking to mingle the dwellings of the dead with those of the living, still more with those of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Disturbance

A.A. van Ruler argues that “Israel is the great disturbing factor in the paganism of the world’s nations,” and the church follows Israel’s path (Calvinist Trinitarianism and Theocentric Politics, 152-3).This is partly because Christianity “is wholly and completely . . . . Continue Reading »

Sympathy for the Devil

Brian Mattson of the Center for Cultural Leadership offers a lively, compelling analysis of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah. He shows that the film is consistent and sticks close to its sources.The only problem is that Aronofsky’s sources are Kabbalic and Gnostic. Mattson . . . . Continue Reading »