Peter J. Leithart

Jacob has gotten a bad rap over the centuries, not least because of the way his two wives have fared in the hands of the allegorists. For Philo, beautiful Rachel represents bodily beauty and Leah beauty of soul: “Rachel, who is comeliness of the body, is described as younger than Leah, that . . . . Continue Reading »

Let’s assume that the Eucharist makes a political difference. And let’s observe that the predominate Christian tradition of the US has been a-Eucharistic. Then we must ask, What political difference has that made? . . . . Continue Reading »

Talal Asad has argued, uncharacteristically, that “none of the criteria [of] the Islamic tradition” allows anyone to describe suicide bombers as “sacrifices.” Ivan Strenski ( Why Politics Can’t Be Freed From Religion (Blackwell Manifestos) ) demurs. He finds plenty of . . . . Continue Reading »

Forty years ago, Donovan Courville ( Exodus Problem and Its Ramifications (2 Volume Set) ) concisely summarized the slide of biblical scholarship from treating the Bible as history to treating it as a collection of “traditions” with an ever-diminishing historical core. Chronology was a . . . . Continue Reading »

In his 2002 Contesting Sacrifice: Religion, Nationalism, and Social Thought in France , Ivan Strenski examined the setting for French Enlightenment conceptions of sacrifice. He argued “that a lart portion of the Catholic assumptions about the nature of sacrifice were in their turn equally . . . . Continue Reading »

This quotation from Oyekan Owomoyela’s African Literatures: An Introduction , cited in a student paper, got me to wondering: “whatever was the official attitude to African cultures, the missionaries, in the British areas as well as in the French saw in everything African godless . . . . Continue Reading »

INTRODUCTION Early on, Isaiah sang a song of lament for Yahweh’s fruitless vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7). As the “little apocalypse” ends, Isaiah records Yahweh’s song about His perpetual care for that same vineyard (27:2-6). THE TEXT “In that day the LORD with His severe . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 26:9: With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” Jesus said, . . . . Continue Reading »

“There’s a sea in front and an army behind,” Israel cries out at the Red Sea. The Lord tells them to go straight ahead, as He cuts a road through the sea. “There are giants in the land,” Israel says. The Lord leads and tells them to watch the fortresses fall. “I . . . . Continue Reading »

In his encyclopedic and highly intelligent The Christian West and Its Singers: The First Thousand Years , Christopher Page details how the “soundscape” of Christendom expanded through the establishment of hospitals, many of which were supplied with service books that included notation . . . . Continue Reading »