Andrew Bacevich has written a series of blunt, scouring assaults on American foreign policy and the way we use our military. By the sound of Rachel Maddow’s NYTBR review , he was soft-pedaling. Now the gloves are off, in his latest, Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and . . . . Continue Reading »
In his study of Pietas from Vergil to Dryden (73-5), James Garrison describes how Prudentius depicts the conversion of Rome to Christ while maintaining its fundamental Romanitas . Pietas , that original Roman virtue transferred from Troy, indicates both the continuity and discontinuity. “To . . . . Continue Reading »
The Hebrew word translated as “contrite” ( dakka’ ) in Isaiah 57:15 means “crushed” as in “crushed to powder.” In Psalm 90:3, it means “dust.” The word has a history in Isaiah. In Isaiah 3:15, Yahweh charges Judah with “crushing my people . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 57:15’s declaration of Yahweh’s compassion for the lowly is memorable, and a good bit of its power comes from the structural and rhetorical patterning of the verse. It begins with a standard prophetic “thus says,” but quickly deviates from expectation. The speaker is . . . . Continue Reading »
According to Isaiah 57:13, Judah’s kibbutz of idols will be driven away. They are no more than breath/vanities ( hebel ; Deuteronomy 32:21) and they will be disbursed with a breath. The wind ( ruach ) of Yahweh will carry them all away. Sweeping away idols is one of the regular jobs of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Philip Jenkins wonders why “the United States seems so determined to eradicate Christianity in one of its oldest heartlands, at such an agonizingly sensitive historical moment.” Jenkins surveys Syria’s bewildering religious mixture, and notes that “Christians have done very . . . . Continue Reading »
“Of whom were you anxious and whom did you fear when you lied and did not remember me or set me on your heart? Was I silent for a long time so you do not fear me?” Thus Yahweh asks through his prophet Isaiah (57:11). It’s a sharp insight into psychology of sin. Fear induces . . . . Continue Reading »
It is said that as J. Gresham Machen died, he spoke of the comfort he took in the imputation of Christ’s active obedience, which ensured his standing before God. I don’t know if that was actually Machen’s dying thought. But leave that to the side. I can see the point, but I . . . . Continue Reading »
As the Angel of death went through Egypt, Israelites were protected because of the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses (Exodus 12:7, 22-23). Once Israel settled in the land, they were to post the Torah on their doorposts, not only a memorial of Sinai but a permanent memorial of . . . . Continue Reading »
Some years ago, Joel Harrington, an American historian, discovered a manuscript copy of the diary of Frantz Schmidt, citizen of Nuremberg who died in 1634. The diary had been published before, but the manuscript was more detailed and accurate than the published versions. Any diary from the . . . . Continue Reading »
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