Peter J. Leithart

I’m always behind the trends, so I probably don’t have to worry. But if you are among the dozen or so people who haven’t yet seen HBO’s atmospheric True Detective, spoilers follow.The climactic struggle with the serial murderer takes place in a cavernous, horrifying . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus describes His death as His glorification/exaltation. Elevated on the cross, it’s as if Jesus had taken the throne to pass judgment on this world and to cast out the ruler of this world (John 12:31).John’s narrative prepares the way for this declaration. In chapter 11, Jesus raises . . . . Continue Reading »

John records Jesus saying “Amen, Amen” some twenty-five times. It’s typically understood as an oath formula, a “double witness” that stresses the truth of what Jesus says.But there’s an additional dimension. The double Amen appears in the Old Testament only a few . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus has “life in Myself” (John 5:26). That appears to be an inherent quality. But Jesus doesn’t set inherent and received in opposition: The life that He has in Himself is a gift from His Father. His quality of having-life-in-Himself is given to Him from Another.And when He gives . . . . Continue Reading »

Why are the seven letters of Revelation addressed to churches in Asia Minor? Asia Minor isn’t a focus of interest at all in the Old Testament, though much of Paul’s ministry is carried out among diaspora communities and churches there. That only shifts the question: Why is Paul . . . . Continue Reading »

Derek Thompson analyzes the “savior fallacy” that drives many NBA teams in the Atlantic . It has several components: Mediocrity is the worst, and mediocre teams stay mediocre, so “tanking” becomes a deliberate strategy; one top draft choice can change a loser into a . . . . Continue Reading »

Robert Kaplan offers a brief in defense of empire at the Atlantic. “Throughout history,” he argues, “governance and relative safety have most often been provided by empires, Western or Eastern. Anarchy reigned in the interregnums.”Globalization today depends on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Larry Sidentop’s Inventing the Individual is intellectual history of the old school, the broad-sweep, big-idea type. Jeffrey Collins thinks that for all the dangers the book works (TLS review). It is “a thoroughly interesting and fundamentally convincing book.”The key . . . . Continue Reading »

Did the Greeks sacrifice all the animals they ate? Gunnel Ekroth (“Meat in ancient Greece”) says No, though he also says that most of the meat they ate was “sacred,” even if not “sacrificial.” The distinction of the two is crucial.Drawing mainly from osteological . . . . Continue Reading »

Gunnel Ekroth considers the important role that decisions by lot played in Greek society:“This was not an infrequent phenomenon in Greek society and was encountered not only at sacrifices, but also when land was parcelled out at colonial undertakings as well as at the selection of political . . . . Continue Reading »