Peter J. Leithart

What is modern politics? Kahn describes it as “a distinctive form of religious experience” that depends on the shift of sovereignty (Schmitt) from the monarch to the people. When the miraculous of sovereignty shifts, so does sacrifice: “The domain of sacrifice shifted [in modern . . . . Continue Reading »

Kahn ( Putting Liberalism in Its Place ) again, a wonderful passage on martyrological politics: “Hegel writes of the master-slave relationship as the origin of political history. The slave is not willing to die; he is a failed martyr. He grants others the power to script the meaning of his . . . . Continue Reading »

World, tebel , is used four times in Isaiah’s little apocalypse. The four uses tell the story of this section of the prophecy. In 24:4, the world is fading and languishes. Isaiah hopes that through the Lord’s judgment the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness (26:9), but at . . . . Continue Reading »

In the dream of Pharaoh’s cup-bearer, he sees branches of a vine bud, blossom, and bring forth their clusters (Genesis 40:10). The budding vine was a sign of the cup-bearer’s restoration to his position in Pharaoh’s court. It signified his resurrection from prison and his . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 27:2-6 promises that the Lord will restore the vineyard that he had earlier abandoned (Isaiah 5:1-7). He raises the vines up, restores the hedge that had protected it, turns it into a vineyard of wine. A song of praise and love replaces the lament of chapter 5. The section is a chiasm of . . . . Continue Reading »

So. The word “visit” ( paqad ) is also used seven times in the “little apocalypse” of Isaiah (24:21, 22; 26:14, 16, 21; 27:1, 3). Again, if nothing else, we have a numerical link with the days of creation, appropriate to a passage concerning the destruction and . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah uses the phrase “in that day” far more than any other writer of the Bible. In the NASB, the phrase appears 40x, 39 of them in the first 31 chapters. Isaiah 1-31 is infused with expectation for the “day of the Lord.” The phrase occurs in clusters of 3 and 4 in the . . . . Continue Reading »

In a fascinating passage, Kahn draws links between early Christian martyrdom and the operation state power in the Western world. Start with martyrs: “The martyr [like Jesus] denies the state power, while yielding to its violence . . . . This is not a kind of quietism in the face of the state, . . . . Continue Reading »

Kahn again: “My most fundamental claim is that liberalism lacks an adequate conception of the will.” This is not because liberalism fails to talk about will. It does constantly, pointing to the will exercised in the formation of social contract and the will manifest in political and . . . . Continue Reading »

In his provocative 2005 study, Putting Liberalism in Its Place , Yale’s Paul W. Kahn argues that “we will never understand the character of the American rule of law without first understanding the way in which it is embedded in a conception of popular sovereignty. More importantly, we . . . . Continue Reading »