Peter J. Leithart

Since Mendel, virtually no one has believed in the the Lamarckian idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This means that inherited properties are considered biological, and specifically genetic. An organism with a certain genetic makeup will acquired new properties during its . . . . Continue Reading »

In our Bibles, the Song of Songs is grouped along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as “wisdom” literature. Should it be? It would seem not. The other wisdom books contrast wisdom and folly, repeatedly use “wisdom words” that have to do with understanding, teaching, knowledge, . . . . Continue Reading »

It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of what was then Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations as they are to their toothpaste … Continue Reading »

I prognosticate about the future of the church in the city at Firstthings.com today. . . . . Continue Reading »

That the sins of the fathers are “imputed” to sons is, Grotius thinks, a clear teaching of Scripture ( Defensio Fidei Catholoicae: De Satisfactione Christi Adversus Faustum Socinum Senensem (1.25). But why? Grotius gives this intriguing answer, reflecting on Jeremiah’s use of the . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s one of the fun questions of theology: Was Nestorius a Nestorian, Pelagius a Pelagian, Calvin a five-point Calvinist? Etc. Now, was Grotius a Grotian? Not if “Grotian” means “one wno denies penal substitution in favor of a governmental view.” Consider this summary . . . . Continue Reading »

The atonement doesn’t take place “above the heads” of the participants - Jews, disciples, Pilate, Jesus - but in and through their concrete actions and reactions. There can be no sociology of atonement unless the atonement is understood as an inherently social and political event. . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 53 is not just about the trials and death of the Messiah. It’s also about the exaltation/vindication of the Messiah and the contrite acknowledgment of the Messiah by the people who had rejected Him. It’s not just about the cross but about the resurrection and ascension, and about . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hebrew word for “marred” occurs in only two places in the Old Testament: It describes the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:14) and it is used to refer to disfigurements that disqualify a descendant of Aaron from being priest (Leviticus 22:25). The connection doesn’t seem . . . . Continue Reading »

In the NYRB, Edward Mendelson suggests that there is a little zone of Protestant freedom within the controlled Papal structures of Apple: “AppleScript is protestant with a lower-case ‘p,’ as iOS and much of OS X is catholic with a lower-case ‘c.’ Like the Protestantism . . . . Continue Reading »