Peter J. Leithart

“Of whom were you anxious and whom did you fear when you lied and did not remember me or set me on your heart? Was I silent for a long time so you do not fear me?” Thus Yahweh asks through his prophet Isaiah (57:11). It’s a sharp insight into psychology of sin. Fear induces . . . . Continue Reading »

It is said that as J. Gresham Machen died, he spoke of the comfort he took in the imputation of Christ’s active obedience, which ensured his standing before God. I don’t know if that was actually Machen’s dying thought. But leave that to the side. I can see the point, but I . . . . Continue Reading »

As the Angel of death went through Egypt, Israelites were protected because of the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses (Exodus 12:7, 22-23). Once Israel settled in the land, they were to post the Torah on their doorposts, not only a memorial of Sinai but a permanent memorial of . . . . Continue Reading »

Some years ago, Joel Harrington, an American historian, discovered a manuscript copy of the diary of Frantz Schmidt, citizen of Nuremberg who died in 1634. The diary had been published before, but the manuscript was more detailed and accurate than the published versions. Any diary from the . . . . Continue Reading »

Constantine styled himself, at times, as a new Augustus. Later Christian rulers modeled themselves and their propaganda after Constantine. In an essay in Modern Perspectives in Western Art History: An Anthology of 20th-century Writings on the Visual Arts , Richard Krautheimer comments on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Jotham’s parable in Judges 9 compares men with plants. Fruitful trees and plants represent productive men who don’t have time to seek power and “wave over the trees.” Abimelech is a thorn bush, who has all the time in the world since he produces nothing. Each of the trees . . . . Continue Reading »

God’s authority empowers. Does ours? . . . . Continue Reading »

Chee-Chiew Lee gives us a closely argued, balanced and careful treatment of the relation between justification and the Spirit in his The Blessing of Abraham, the Spirit, and Justification in Galatians: Their Relationship and Significance for Understanding Paul’s Theology . There’s a . . . . Continue Reading »

A few perhaps surprising gleanings from Jonathan Edwards’s comments on Romans, illustrative of the OPP, the Old Perspective on Paul. All from David Lovi and Benjamin Westerhoff, The Power of God: A Jonathan Edwards Commentary on the Book of Romans . Edwards recognizes, as Calvin did, that the . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 57:7 contains a neat and tiny theory of sacrifice. It’s set up in a parallel structure: A. On a mountain high and lifted up B. You set your bed A’. Even there B’. you ascended to sacrifice. Or a little chiasm: A. On a mountain high and lifted up B. You set your bet . . . . Continue Reading »