Peter J. Leithart

Drawing out the Adam-Christ parallel, Irenaeus notes that Luke’s genealogy highlights not only Jesus’ connection with Adam but His embodiment of the nations: “for this cause Luke points out that the genealogy which extends from our Lord’s birth until Adam, has 72 . . . . Continue Reading »

Tertullian offers this typological explanation for Jesus’ conception and birth from a virgin: “Since he came to give us a new life it was fitting that he himself should be born in a new manner. But this newness, as always, is prefigured in the Old Testament, the Lord’s birth of a . . . . Continue Reading »

If you click the “Downloads” link above, you’ll find a fine structural analysis of the Song by a student, Donny Linnemeyer. . . . . Continue Reading »

Cyril of Jerusalem gets the typology of Joshua just right: “Jesus, the son of Nave, in many ways offers us a figure of Christ. It was from the time of the crossing of the Jordan that he began to exercise his command of the people: this is why Christ also, having first been baptized, began His . . . . Continue Reading »

Danielou summarizes the liturgical allegory of Theodore of Mopsuestia: “the offertory procession is a figure of Christ led to His Passion, the offerings placed on the altar are figures of Christ place in His tomb . . . , the altar-clothes are the burial-cloths, the deacons who surround the . . . . Continue Reading »

In his classic study of Bible and the Liturgy , Jean Danielou asks how we are to interpret sacramental signs. Do they “possess only the natural significance of the element or of the gesture . . . water washes, bread nourishes, oil heals”? Or do they “possess a special . . . . Continue Reading »

Athanasius ends his treatise on the incarnation with this wonderful statement of the qualifications for the biblical interpreter: “But for the searching of the Scriptures and true knowledge of them, an honorable life is needed, and a pure virtue, and that virtue which is according to Christ; . . . . Continue Reading »

Matthew 5:23: If you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Jesus says that whoever is angry with his . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 42:2-3: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. As Pastor Sumpter has . . . . Continue Reading »

God breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul. To say we are living souls is not to say that we have a ghost hiding inside the machine of our bodies. Living souls are bundles of desires, creatures moved by hungers and thirsts. Our desires don’t lead us in the right . . . . Continue Reading »