Peter J. Leithart

James of Viterbo ( From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought , 381) says that the church is not only metaphorically a kingdom, but “properly called a kingdom.” He explains by citing 1 Corinthians 15:24, where the kingdom of God that is delivered to the Father . . . . Continue Reading »

Explaining how spiritual lordship exceeds natural, Giles of Rome argues that the church makes kings through baptism and penance: “Though the sacrament of baptism, which is the direct remedy against original sin, and through the sacrament of penance, which is the remedy against actual sin, you . . . . Continue Reading »

Christian political thought has historically gotten off on the wrong foot through misinterpretation of Genesis 1-2. Adam and Eve are taken as “family,” and hence the family becomes a “natural” institution. Families band together and soon there are cities and kingdoms, also . . . . Continue Reading »

In a 1549 letter to Calvin, Bucer sketched his hierarchy of loyalties. It’s one of the great statements of Protestant Catholicity: His aim, he said, was “most fullyto consent, first, with the Lord himself and the Holy Spirit, then also with thetrue and orthodox Church of primitive . . . . Continue Reading »

In a chapter of her Eating Together: Food, Friendship and Inequality , Alice Julier compares Emily Post’s instructions for “formal dinners” and Martha Stewart’s concept of “entertaining.” Much has changed in between. For starters, Post insists that “formal . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 59 is arranged in a loose chiasm: A. Israel’s sins have separated her from Yahweh, vv 1-2 B. Israel is full of blood, falsehood, injustice, vv 3-8 C. Therefore, justice, righteousness and salvation never arrive, vv 9-11 B’. Israel’s confession of lies and injustice, vv . . . . Continue Reading »

Bucer’s teaching on justification is sometimes characterized as a doctrine of “double justification.” Brian Lugioyo thinks this is a misidentification ( Martin Bucer’s Doctrine of Justification: Reformation Theology and Early Modern Irenicism ): Double justification posits . . . . Continue Reading »

In his essay in Martin Bucer: Reforming Church and Community , David Wright observes that the early Bucer sharply separated the baptism of the Spirit from water baptism. During the mid-1520s, he “accommodated infant baptism by minimizing it” (97). By the late 1530s, though, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Dan Glover writes from Canada: “You argue about giving up stretchy jeans as we dont want any of that spandex getting into the bills. I dont know. It seems to me that now-a-days it would be beneficial to make our dollars go further. And what better season than Christmas for trying to stretch . . . . Continue Reading »

In his commentary on Psalm 72 , Calvin gives this convincing explanation for the Psalm’s focus on the king’s duty to protect of the poor: “As God had promised to extend his care to the poor and afflicted among his people, David, as an argument to enforce the prayer which he . . . . Continue Reading »