Peter J. Leithart

Perriman offers a careful assessment of the “faith of Jesus” question. He notes the differences between the verb pisteuo and the noun pistis , notes as well the differences between Habakkuk’s use of the word and the use of the verb in Genesis 15, and concludes: “The verb . . . . Continue Reading »

Perriman’s subtitle is “Reading Romans Before and After Western Christendom.” The before and after are important. If Paul’s gospel in Romans is an announcement about God’s wrath against the oikoumene and the vindication of those who trust Jesus, then it is fulfilled in . . . . Continue Reading »

Andrew Perriman’s The Future of the People of God: Reading Romans Before and After Western Christendom offers a highly stimulating re-reading of Paul and of Romans in particular. Perriman argues that Romans, like the prophetic books of the Old Testament, is directed at a specific historical . . . . Continue Reading »

Stewart Clem has this to say about The Tree of Life : Malick’s film “looks unflinchingly at life’s greatest mysteries – love, loss, alienation, and suffering – without a hint of cynicism. It’s a feat that’s rarely even attempted.” It “not only . . . . Continue Reading »

The New Yorker reviewer of A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War notes that the Civil War was the American war that fundamentally changed American consciousness, and America’s place in the world: “More than our War of Independence, which we grandly . . . . Continue Reading »

A report in the current New Yorker on the Murdoch scandal explains how reporters are in the scandal-laundering business: “Bradley Manning is a traitor, but Nick Davies, of the Guardian (who received Manning’s ‘war logs’ from WikiLeaks), is a patriot, and Julian Assange . . . . Continue Reading »

Josh Gibbs demurs on my endorsement of Tree of Life : “I found much to like in The Tree of Life , but a few things stick in my craw. First and foremost the fact that Zbigniew Preisner’s “Lacrimosa” plays over images of the cosmos beginning. What is a song from a requiem . . . . Continue Reading »

The first section of Isaiah (chs. 1-12) has seven sections, which roughly match the days of creation. 1. Isaiah begins by calling “heaven and earth” as witnesses against Judah (1:2). Day 1. 2. Chapters 2-4 are concerned with idolatry and Judah’s leaders, their mediators. These . . . . Continue Reading »

A follow-up on yesterday’s brief comment on 2 Chronicles 26 and Uzziah’s pride: Isaiah 1:1 says that Isaiah prophesied during the reign of Uzziah, but the only other reference to Uzziah in the book is a death notice in 6:1. I’ve argued in an earlier post that the first five . . . . Continue Reading »

Critics say that Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life is incomprehensible in its juxtaposition of the Big-Bang and primeval myth with a 1950s/60s family drama. The O’Brien family experiences a renching loss, despite their confidence that those who live by grace (= self-sacrifice) are . . . . Continue Reading »