Peter J. Leithart

My friend and former student Stephen Long sends along this quotation from Augustine and brief analysis that follows. The excerpt is from Augustine’s Sermon 187, a Christmas sermon. The portion in quotation marks is from Augustine, the paragraph at the end from Stephen. “When he took . . . . Continue Reading »

In place of the arborescent systems of modernity, Deleuze and Guattari rhizomic models. Herman Rapaport explains ( The Literary Theory Toolkit: A Compendium of Concepts and Methods ): “Traditionally, organic metaphors were used to suggest the coherence and closure of forms, since life forms . . . . Continue Reading »

“Cosmetic” comes from the Greek kosmos , which typically means “world,” and from techne , which means “art” or even “technique.” The etymology throws lines in several directions. A kosmos is an adorned, arranged, and beautified world. In the Genesis . . . . Continue Reading »

When the Philistines capture the mighty Samson, he seems tame enough. They mock and abuse him until the Spirit of Yah returns and Samson pulls down the house. When the Philistines learn that the ark of God is in the Israelite camp, they’re terrified that “mighty gods” contend with . . . . Continue Reading »

Herman Rapaport’s The Literary Theory Toolkit: A Compendium of Concepts and Methods is an impressive achievement. In less than 300 pages, he gives deft and up-to-the minute summaries of literary theories, describes available literary tools for analyzing narrative, poetry, drama, and for . . . . Continue Reading »

Bavinck affirms that evil is a privatio boni , but is not satisfied to leave it there: “Sin is a no-thing , can only be a privation or corruption of the good. Sin is a defect, a deprivation, an absence of the good, or a weakness, imbalance, just as blindness is a deprivation of sight. The . . . . Continue Reading »

Bavinck notes the traditional division of providence into preservation, concurrence, and governance, but then adds: “These do not divide the work of providence into materially and temporally distinct and successive parts for they are always integrally connected. From the very beginning, . . . . Continue Reading »

Donald Polaski ( Authorizing an End: The Isaiah Apocalypse and Intertextuality (Biblical Interpretation Series) ) links the feast of Isaiah 25 with the imperial feasts of the Babylonian kings of Daniel and Ahasuerus in Esther. He concludes that Isaiah implicitly endorses empire: “The feast . . . . Continue Reading »

While the Lord is setting out a grand feast on the mountaintop, Moab is down below, trampled in the offal of the sacrifices (Isaiah 25:10). It’s fitting that Moab is left wallowing in the madmenah , since there is a Moabite town known as Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2). The simile reminds me of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 25 has a number of connections with the events of the exodus and the Sinai covenant. The Psalm that opens the chapter resonates with the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, as does the song of salvation in verse 9. The feast on the mountain is a sacrificial feast on Mount Zion, but also resembles . . . . Continue Reading »