The word “maiden” is used twice in the Song, first in 1:3, where the Bride says that the maidens love her Lover, and then in 6:8, where the maidens join with the queens and concubines in praising the bride. At the beginning, the maidens love the lover, but by the end of the Song they . . . . Continue Reading »
Job 32 states the dilemma of the book: “Job was righteous in his own eyes,” and Elihu burns against him “because he justified himself more than God” (vv. 1-2). Job suffers. If Job sinned and suffers just punishment, God is justified. But Job refuses to admit sin commensurate . . . . Continue Reading »
Merit, Jonathan Edwards said, is “anything . . . in one person . . which appearing in the view of another is a recommendation of him to the other’s regard, esteem and affection.” On this definition of merit, Edwards is able to insist that imputation is not “unreasonable, or . . . . Continue Reading »
Aristotle says his philosophical opponents “destroy necessity.” So long as they are looking at the creation, his opponents are right: Nature is wholly contingent, entirely unnecessary, like art. Aristotle searches for, and thinks he finds, necessity in creation. His philosophy is a . . . . Continue Reading »
In the Metaphysics , Aristotle says that the metaphysical and epistemological errors of previous philosophers can be traced to their focus on the sensible world: “because they saw that that all this world of nature is in movement and that about that which changes no true statement can be . . . . Continue Reading »
My musings on the political import of Advent at the First Things site this morning: http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »
Schmemann says that the distinctive mark of the converted Roman Empire, and of the Byzantine order, was the “state’s” acknowledgement that the end of the church was the end of all things, also then the end of the state. The state no longer existed to promote its own ends, but to . . . . Continue Reading »
Aroma and memory are linked liturgically and spiritually as well as literally. The sacrifices were offered as “memorials” before Yahweh, as was incense. He was called to remember and act. The fragrance of the lover arouses the bride to remember him, and the reputation and name of our . . . . Continue Reading »
What excites erotic desire? Our pornographic culture highlights the sheerly sensual - the visible form of the face and body, the aroma of a perfume, the allure of sexy clothing. Eros is aroused when the lovers are stripped of all external definitions, including finally their clothes and their . . . . Continue Reading »
In the Best-of-2011 edition of the TLS , Mary Beard casts her vote for The Archimedes Palimpsest , which she describes as follows: “This publishes a thirteenth-century prayer book, made up - as has long been recognized - out of earlier manuscripts. An international project has deployed all . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
