Peter J. Leithart

At the Financial Times web site, Gautam Malkani points to the motiveless malignancy of the London riots: “In A Clockwork Orange . . . Burgess captures his delinquent protagonists’ complete lack of political motivation, but without dismissing their actions as simple opportunism. Numbed . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus sets up the victors of Philadelphia as pillars in the house, and then writes names on them. Numbers 17 is in the background, where the names of tribal leaders are written on rods and placed in the house of God. The rod that blossoms with almond (watcher) blossoms is the rod of the priest. . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus promises to write a triple name on the pillars that are in the temple (Revelation 3:12). The three uses of the word ????? are the name of “My God,” the name of the city, which is New Jerusalem, and Jesus’ own new name. This has got to be a Trinitarian formula. “My . . . . Continue Reading »

The victors in Philadelphia ( not the 76ers) will become pillars in the house of God (Revelation 3:12). Structural pillars are replaced by people-pillars because the temple is replaced by a people-house. The structural and decorative pillars of Solomon’s temple were cut to pieces and shipped . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus warns two of the churches in Asia about the “hour” that is coming (Sardis, Revelation 3:3; Philadelphia, 3:10). In John’s gospel, Jesus talks about the “hour” with reference to the hour of the cross, which is also the hour of glory. Now, Jesus speaks of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Some of my thoughts on Jesus and violence over at http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s become one of the most-quoted passages to emerge from the New Atheists, Richard Dawkins’s tirade against the God of Israel: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser… .” Less well-known is Dawkins’s approval of Jesus, who is “from a moral point of view … a huge improvement over the cruel ogre of the Old Testament.” … Continue Reading »

Martyred saints under the altar cry out for vengeance (Revelation 6:10). They call to the “holy and true” to avenge their blood. To whom are the crying? We might think that it’s the Father, but Revelation 3:7 makes it clear that Jesus is “the holy, the true.” They want . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus has keys to open and shut (Revelation 3:7). That makes him a new Eliakim, successor to Shebna as the overseer of the house of David (Isaiah 22). It also makes Him a new Nebuchadnezzar, who locks up the cities of the Negev so that no one can open them as he carries Judah into exile (Jeremiah . . . . Continue Reading »

I knew posting about zombies would hit a nerve. Ben Graber responds to my post about zombies. The remainder of this post comes from Graber: I would venture a guess that the current interest in zombies reflects a mood that’s been well documented over the last decade. First, the state of . . . . Continue Reading »