Peter J. Leithart

“The Trinity is a mathematical absurdity in the context of a god limited in his operations to just the four dimensions of length, width, height, and time,” writes Hugh Ross ( The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God ). To avoid the . . . . Continue Reading »

Over the past century and a half a number of writers have written monographs that attempt to link the letters of Jesus to the seven hurches with the history and culture of each city. The supposed connections are not always persuasive, but some are. Sardis, for instance, though its fortress was . . . . Continue Reading »

In the letter to Sardis, Jesus charges that the church has a “name” of being alive but is dead. At first blush, “name” means merely reputation, but I suspect that Jesus has more in mind. The church is the people of Jesus, who is the “firstborn from the dead” . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus warns that His coming will be like the coming of a “thief” at night (Matthew 24:43; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4; Revelation 3:3). This specific image - a thief breaking in at night - comes in part from the law, Exodus 22 gives regulations about how to deal with a thief breaking . . . . Continue Reading »

“Although it does not accord with the general sentiments or views of the United States to intermeddle [sic] in the domestic contests of other countries, it cannot be unfair, in the prosecution of a just war, or the accomplishment of a reasonable peace, to turn to their advantage, the enmity . . . . Continue Reading »

When Capt. William Bainbridge’s ship, the George Washington , was seized by the Algerian leader Hussan Dey and forced to carry tribute to the Ottoman rulers in Istabul, his men decided to take their revenge. According to Michael Oren ( Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: . . . . Continue Reading »

“Intervention is not now, never was, and never will be a set policy of the United States.” Herbert Hoover’s claim was cleverly stated: Even dozens of interventions might be defended as ad hoc responses to particular situations rather than part of a “set policy.” Still, . . . . Continue Reading »

“I believe strictly in the Monroe Doctrine, in our Constitution, and in the laws of God,” said Mary Baker Eddy in 1923, a century after Monroe propose his doctrine. It’s an interesting list, in an interesting order. One of the virtues of Jay Sexton’s The Monroe Doctrine: . . . . Continue Reading »

William Appleman Williams ( Empire As A Way of Life: An Essay on the Causes and Character of America’s Present Predicament Along with a Few Thoughts about an Alternative ) notes the tradition from mercantile to laissez-faire policies in the Jacksonian era: “We are dealing with the . . . . Continue Reading »

Bucking Montesquieu and most other theorists of republicanism, Madison argued that the American system required a large rather than a small territory to operate effectively: “Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a . . . . Continue Reading »