Peter J. Leithart

Oedipus was the ideal hero for classical Athens, a solver of riddles intent on discovering secrets. And the Sphinx was the perfect monstrous adversary. It’s no surprise that the story became one of the most famous myths of the ancient and modern worlds.In her recent brief . . . . Continue Reading »

Suppose you’re walking to church to worship God. Along the way, your motive changes from piety to vainglory. You continue walking to church, but now you’re walking to church to be seen by others to be walking to church.What happened to the action of walking to church when your will . . . . Continue Reading »

Are Christians obsessed with sex? Yes we are, and for good . . . . Continue Reading »

Though “word and sentence are interdependent,” argues David Braine (Language and Human Understanding, 2), yet “neither is definable in terms of the other.”This is most often acknowledged from one direction: An infinite number of sentences can be constructed from the finite . . . . Continue Reading »

In a 2005 article in Atike Kunst, Gunnel Ekroth examines vase paintings to explore the role blood played in Greek sacrificial rites. One main aim is to support his thesis that Greek reserved sacrificial blood in order to consume it, and he defense this view by examining when blood is and when it is . . . . Continue Reading »

Leviticus contains only two narratives (chs. 10, 24), and its structure is dictated by speeches from Yahweh to Moses, who delivers them to Israel.Yet, in a rough and broad way, it’s possible to see a narrative shape to the book, particularly if we view it as a continuation of the book of . . . . Continue Reading »

In a 2005 Syracuse University dissertation on purity, Yohan Yoo traces some of the changes in purity regulations that took place in his three selected ancient purity systems - Egypt, Israel, and Greece. In the first, he finds what he describes as a “democratization of the mortuary texts” . . . . Continue Reading »

Israel is prohibited from uncovering nakedness of anyone who is “flesh of your flesh” (Leviticus 18:6). A man and a woman who already have a “flesh” relationship - whether biological or “covenantal” kinship - cannot add another one-flesh sexual relationship. . . . . Continue Reading »

Micah ends with promises of deliverance from sin. “I” bear Yahweh’s indignation because of my sin, but He will deliver me (7:9). Yahweh will have compassion and “tread our iniquities under foot” (7:19).It’s a new exodus, as in the days when Yahweh performed signs . . . . Continue Reading »

Many have observed the connections between consumerism and abortion. It’s an ancient insight.The prophet Micah charged that Zion had been built with blood and Jerusalem with violent injustice (Micah 4:10). He immediately followed with a charge against Judah’s leaders: Judges accept . . . . Continue Reading »