Peter J. Leithart

“Ambition” doesn’t appear in the Geneva Bible, but by William Casey King’s count ( Ambition, A History: From Vice to Virtue ) it appears seventy-six times in the notes to that Bible. Almost all of the references are negative. In his NYRB review of King’s book, David . . . . Continue Reading »

Discussing Alan Wolfe’s Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It in Books and Culture , Eric Miller describes and gives cautious approval to Wolfe’s “quasi-theological turn.” Wolfe now recognizes that “human beings, far from being free spirits standing to . . . . Continue Reading »

The animals used in the purification offering were ranked according to the religious and socio-economic status of the offerer. Priests offered bulls, leaders goats, the poor offered doves. Reflecting on this, James Jordan suggests that this gives us a clue to God’s way of building His . . . . Continue Reading »

In a letter to the TLS, Susan M. Fitzpatrick admits that she was wrong about Alabama: “Two decades ago I moved from my home city of New York, to a town in Alabama with the great trepidation a New Yorker faces when relocating to the deep South. Most of my friends sympathized with my feelings . . . . Continue Reading »

Museums exude a peaceable calm. Voices are hushed as if in the presence of the sacred, everything is arranged with symmetry. All is decent and in order, and it seems that the collection sprang into existence from nothing, or that each item was a generous donation from the artist or the product of . . . . Continue Reading »

Fredrik Hagglund ( Isaiah 53 in the Light of Homecoming After Exile (Forschungen Zum Alten Testament) ) argues against the common notion that Isaiah 53 is about the atoning suffering of Yahweh’s Servant. The Servant’s suffering is vicarious (i.e., he suffers for the sins of others) but . . . . Continue Reading »

Animals have “soul” (Heb. nephesh ). Like Adam, they are living souls, self-animated breathers. Occasionally, Scripture speaks of animals as “spirits” or as having “spirit” ( ruach ; land animals in Genesis 7:22; “spirits of all flesh” in Numbers . . . . Continue Reading »

Hebrews 9:4 makes the strange claim that the golden altar of incense was part of the equipment of the Most Holy Place, the “second sanctuary” beyond the “second veil.” This seems to directly contradict the Torah, which says that Moses put the altar in front of the veil . . . . Continue Reading »

In a TLS review of several books on ancient perception, material, and architecture Peter Thonemann notes the dominance of circular architecture in “prehistoric” Europe, and asks whether this form carried some kind of symbolic weight. He cites an Athenian example: “The best-known . . . . Continue Reading »

Yahweh assures grieving Zion that she will see her children again (Isaiah 49:20-21). Dead children will reappear, and Zion will ask in astonishment, “Who has begotten these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children?” (v. 21). This is not merely a return from exile. It’s a . . . . Continue Reading »