Peter J. Leithart

Emily A. Bernard Jackson asks this question concerning Byron in a TLS review of Roderick Beaton’s Byron’s War: Romantic Rebellion, Greek Revolution . It’s a “troublesome” question for Byron scholars: “Byron was certainly political: he maintained a lively interest . . . . Continue Reading »

Ask Eusebius of Caesarea, and he won’t give a straight answer. Ask Jerome, and he knows it was the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia. Ask anyone between the sixth and the sixteenth century, and they’ll tell you, with great assurance, Sylvester of Rome. Hans Pohlsander ( Emperor Constantine , . . . . Continue Reading »

A few weeks back, the Guardian explained the appeal of The Simpsons to highly intelligent people. It’s full of arcane math jokes. Author Simon Singh recalls his favorite moment: “In ‘The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace’ (1998) . . . Homer tries to become an inventor. In one . . . . Continue Reading »

Fran O’Rourke’s What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century?: Philosophical Essays in Honor of Alasdair MacIntyre is a collection of essays from a 2009 University College Dublin conference assessing and responding to the achievement of Alasdair MacIntyre’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Joshua 24:31 seems like a straightforward theme verse for the book of Joshua: “Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua.” Many contemporary scholars don’t think so. They point to various incidents in the book as examples of unfaithfulness - the spies’ decision to spare . . . . Continue Reading »

This from a wonderful interview with Sam Wells , where he is discussing some of the ideas in his Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics . It’s one of the best answers to “Why liturgy?” that I’ve come across. The remainder of this post is quoted from that interview: . . . . Continue Reading »

The essays collected in Thomas Howard’s Imago Dei: Human Dignity in Ecumenical Perspective represent a spectrum of approaches to the question of human nature and human dignity. All the essays are rewarding. John Behr offers an Orthodox perspective that emphasizes the eschatological realization of . . . . Continue Reading »

The Frankish monk Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel is reputed to have written the first mirror for princes, the Via Regia in 813. As desceribed by Michael Edward Moore in A Sacred Kingdom: Bishops and the Rise of Frankish Kingship, 300-850 , Smaragdus aimed to reshape institutions “in accordance . . . . Continue Reading »

A student, Chris Kou, notes that Hosea 5:8 alludes to the incident with the Levite and his concubine in Judges 19-20. “Blow the horn at Gibeah, the trumpet at Ramah” takes us back to “we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah” (Judges 19:13). The men of Gibeah are like the . . . . Continue Reading »

How do you overcome a powerful opponent? David shows how to conquer with a lyre and song . . . . . Continue Reading »