Peter J. Leithart

In his 2005 Incoherent Empire , UCLA sociology Michael Mann notes that US tariffs are on average only 4%, “low by historic standards.” But a closer look shows that this openness to foreign goods is selective, and allied to a form of protectionism-by-subsidy. Mann observes that . . . . Continue Reading »

When saints first appear in heaven, they are beneath the altar (Revelation 6:9-11). The great multitude that is caught up to heaven “stands” around the throne (7:11). They have moved up, from a place beneath the altar to a place before the throne. But that is not the end of their . . . . Continue Reading »

The list “lightning, sounds, thunder” frames the “seal” section of Revelation, occurring in both 4:5 and in 8:5. Plus, there is a reference to fire in both 4:5 and 8:5. Though the phrase is repeated here, there is also a progression. In 4:5, the lightning, voices, and . . . . Continue Reading »

The Bible’s first kiss occurs when disguised Jacob receives a blessing from his father Isaac. Isaac is suspicious, and wants Jacob to come closer so he asks for a kiss (27:26-27). From that point on, the book of Genesis uses the word “kiss” about ten times. Men kiss men (Genesis . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus promises the saints at Sardis white garments (Revelation 3:4), and also puts white garments on sale at Laodicea (3:18). But how does one overcome so as to receive the white robe? Revelation 4-7 (the seal section) tells us. The section opens with John’s ascent into heaven to see . . . . Continue Reading »

To the right, you will see a picture of a newly published Festscrift for James B. Jordan, edited by John Barach and me. It’s not yet available from Amazon, but is available from the publisher, Wipf & Stock. If you don’t know James Jordan, shame, shame, shame on you. But don’t . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hebrew word mippeney is rarely translated with its root in mind ( pan , face). Instead of “from the face of,” it is translated simply as “from before.” In Isaiah 21:15, it seems important to bring out the root meaning more deliberately. Isaiah envisions fugitives fleeing . . . . Continue Reading »

In the same 2005 Critical Inquiry article where he quotes Freud on kissing, he gives a brief, provocative phenomenology of kissing. The mouth, he asserts, is the most intimate part of the body that is generally public. Eyes traditionally reveal the soul, but the mouth is a yawning entry into the . . . . Continue Reading »

In what J. Hillis Miller calls a “somewhat puritanical passage” from the Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis , Freud targets kissing as the “first perversion” of sex: “There is something else that I must add in order to complete our view of sexual perversions. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hebrew shir (song) is used vastly more often in the Psalmter than anywhere else, as one would expect. It appears over 40 times there, and doesn’t even reach double figures in any other book. In the Pentateuch as a whole, the word appears only eight times. The word is, of course, also the . . . . Continue Reading »