Peter J. Leithart

“No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He exegesato Him” (John 1:18). Meaning what? The verb contains the word hegemon , and means to “lead out.” The Father has been hidden, and the Begotten God “leads Him out” . . . . Continue Reading »

Why write? Psalm 102 says that we write for the unborn: “This will be written for the generation to come” (v. 18). Recording Yahweh’s compassion to Zion, His deliverance of His people, His gracious responses to their prayers leaves a fixed record for those who come after. Writing . . . . Continue Reading »

Psalm 104 celebrates the manifold works of God, made by wisdom. The earth is full of Yahweh’s creatures. So is the sea (v. 27), which spreads far and wide, is filled with swarms of creatures small and great, like Leviathan that plays in the deeps (v. 28). Sea creatures like ” ships . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s time to have mercy on Zion, the Psalmist says; “surely the time has come” (Psalm 102:14). And why? ” For ( ki ) your servants love her very stones and feel compassion for her dust” (v. 15). The love of Yahweh’s servants for Zion is a reason for Yahweh to . . . . Continue Reading »

In a critical assessment of Louw-Nida’s “semantic domain” approach to to Hebrew lexicography, Reinier de Blois points out that the approach breaks down when dealing with figurative language. The word cherev , “sword” is listed in Louw and Nida under the domain of . . . . Continue Reading »

Bilington again: The nationalist ideal spread throughout Europe through Napoleon, “the first ruler to base a political regime exclusively upon the nation . . . the most powerful purely national symbol that any nation has had.” Poles and Italians were inspired by the French example; . . . . Continue Reading »

Billington helpfully focuses on the issue of nationalism to describe the differences between French and American revolutionary movements. In France, nationalism was an inspiration for revolution from the beginning. La nation was “a new fraternity in which lesser loyalties as well as petty . . . . Continue Reading »

In his endlessly fascinating classic Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith , Librarian of Congress James Billington notes that, though ancient, the triangle of values in the slogan of the French Revolution took on “a new mystical aura” during the 18th and 19th . . . . Continue Reading »

Russia has two foundings - first, as an Orthodox Christian civilization in 988 under Prince Vladimir of Kiev; second, as a Westernizing and modernizing nation under Peter the Great in the 17th and 18th centuries. In his superb Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia , Orlando Figes . . . . Continue Reading »

Proverbs 5:1-3: My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding. That you may observe discretion, and your lips may reserve knowledge. For the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and smoother than oil is her speech. “The lips of the strange woman drip honey,” . . . . Continue Reading »