Peter J. Leithart

I re-enter the “too catholic to be Catholic” arena again this morning at http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . . Continue Reading »

The clash between Peter and Paul at Antioch is one of those back-water biblical incidents that changed the world. It’s ancient history, but it’s as relevant today as it was in the first century, if not more so. Paul recounts the incident in the second chapter of his letter to the Galatians, his main epistle against the “Judaizers.” According to some Jewish converts in the early church, Gentiles could not become full disciples of Jesus without first becoming Jews. They had to be circumcised, observe Jewish purity laws and dietary restrictions, and follow Jewish rules about table fellowship if they were going to be full members of the Christian community… . Continue Reading »

Sarah J. Dille concludes her study of Mixing Metaphors: God as Mother and Father in Deutero-Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) with this summary of Isaiah’s use of maternal metaphors for Yahweh (p. 176): “An appreciation of the commonplaces of the ‘mother’ . . . . Continue Reading »

In his Concentricity and Continuity: The Literary Structure of Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) , Robert H. O’Connell argues that “the formal structure of the book of Isaiah comprises seven asymmetrically concentric sections, each of which presents a complex . . . . Continue Reading »

The opening verses of Isaiah 40 record a conversation. God instructs some unidentified group to “comfort” and “speak” and “call” the people, and gives them the message they are to speak (vv. 1-2). In verse 3, a voice from an unidentified source instructs the . . . . Continue Reading »

Paul famously declared that Christ Jesus came to save sinners, adding “Of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul qualifies as chief of sinners because he was a “blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor” (v. 13). That Jesus would save this sinner is a . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at Slate , Matthew Yglesias explains why Americans don’t take to the San Antonio Spurs, in spite of the Spurs’ apparent commitment to American values of teamwork, leadership, excellence, loyalty, hard work. Yglesias thinks it exposes the American character: “we are, . . . . Continue Reading »

Patrick Fitzgerald argues in an extensive and careful analysis of “Gratitude and Justice” in a 1998 issue of Ethics that recent philosophy has treated gratitude as too narrowly an issue of justice, asking the question “When is gratitude owed ?” Fitzgerald argues compellingly . . . . Continue Reading »

In his stimulating new volume, Metaphysics: The Creation of Hierarchy , Adrian Pabst offers a fresh (to me) assessment of Plato and his differences from Aristotle. Focusing on the problems of individuation, he argues that Plato offers a “relational” metaphysics that affirms rather than . . . . Continue Reading »

In her Baptismal Imagery in Early Christianity: Ritual, Visual, and Theological Dimensions (pp. 190-191), Robin M. Jenson notes that in some early Christian iconography, Peter was substituted for Moses in the scene of the striking of the rock: “In the fourth century . . . the composition of . . . . Continue Reading »