Peter J. Leithart

Moses strikes the “flint rock” in the wilderness, and water gushes out, turning the wilderness into a garden (Deuteronomy 8:15). Israel is circumcised by sharp rocks as they enter the land (Joshua 5; cf. Exodus 4:25). Cut by the rock, Israel becomes a fruitful people, raising godly . . . . Continue Reading »

Deuteronomy 7 ends with a chiastically-structured exhortation concerning the images of the Canaanites: A. Burn images of their gods, 25a B. Do not covet gold or silver nor take it, lest you be snared, 25b C. An abomination ( to’evah ) to Yahweh, 25c C’. Do not bring abomination ( . . . . Continue Reading »

Joe Rigney of Bethlehem College and Seminary offers further observations on Luke 12-13. The remainder of the post is from Joe. In 12:49-53, Jesus says that he’s come to cast fire on the earth and divide families. He goes on to make a point about his audience’s ability to discern . . . . Continue Reading »

Paul prayed three times for God to remove the thorn from his flesh, then stopped. He realized that God wanted him weak. Weakness was essential to his apostolic ministry, an enfleshment of his proclamation of the crucified Son. Jesus tells a parable about an importunate widow who won’t take No . . . . Continue Reading »

Pastor Ralph Smith examines the intertextual allusions in Deuteronomy 14 at the Trinity House site. . . . . Continue Reading »

Aaron Cummings adds some thoughts on Luke 13 to my earlier post in which I quoted Jonathan Edwards’s interpretation of Jesus’ warning that “you shall all likewise perish.” The rest of the post is from Aaron. You noted parallels in vv 1-4. The next section (vv 5-17) likewise . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s often said that modernity begins with thinkers of purity like Descartes. At the First Things site, I review a book that tells a more complex and interesting story about early modern English culture . . . . . Continue Reading »

When the Dutch prince William of Orange took the English throne in 1688, he sparked a poetry war. Originally a supporter of William, the journalist John Tutchin became disenchanted and in “The Foreigners” attacked the Dutch as a people “void of Honesty and Grace, / A Boorish, rude, and an inhumane Race” and chided his countrymen for giving to such “excrement” a “Portion in the Promis’d Land, / Which immemorially has been decreed / To be the Birth-right of the Jewish [that is, English] Seed.” Daniel Defoe, a Whig supporter of the Revolution, responded with a poem of his own … Continue Reading »

Edwards ( The Blank Bible , 907) pre-channels NT Wright in his comments on Jesus’ warning in Luke 13: “Christ in these words seems to have respect to something more than merely their perishing, as well as they, unless they repented. He seems also to have regard to the ‘remarkable . . . . Continue Reading »

The Torah indicates that the ceremonies of the law were to be done perpetually. But this cannot, Edwards says (Misc. 1027 in The Miscellanies, 833-1152 ) be taken in the strictest sense. Among other things, the prophets predict that the entire earth and all nations will worship the true God and . . . . Continue Reading »