Peter J. Leithart

Famously and controversially, Wright argues that justification involves two dimensions, which he says were, for Paul, the same thing: the declaration that someone is in the right and forgiven, and the declaration that a person is a member of the covenant community. This formulation helpfully . . . . Continue Reading »

Vanhoozer’s lecture and now article on Wright emphasizes the central importance of union with Christ in understanding justification. He suggests the term “incorporated righteousness” as a way of getting at Calvin’s focus on union with Christ and the double grace that flows . . . . Continue Reading »

One of Michael Horton’s criticisms of NT Wright has to do with the way he construes the relation of Adam’s sin and Israel’s calling. Wright emphasizes that God’s call to Abraham is the beginning of His response to the sin of Babel, ultimately the sin of Adam. Israel is . . . . Continue Reading »

Not many theologians make me laugh out loud. Kevin Vanhoozer is one who does, regularly. This from his much-discussed justification lecture at Wheaton, just published in Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N. T. Wright : Vanhoozer enumerates the various Paul’s on . . . . Continue Reading »

Revelation uses the word “city” ( polis ) 28 times, that is, 4 x 7. The city is the four-cornered world through the seven days of the creation week. In the history of that world city, the new Jerusalem comes to dominate John’s closing vision. Fittingly, 12 uses of polis are in . . . . Continue Reading »

The Greek word abussos is used seven time in Revelation, and that makes one wonder if they correspond to the days of creation. SOme do pretty well. Day 1: A star falls from heaven with a key to the abyss (9:1). the world is de-lightened. Day 2: From the abyss comes a cloud that snuffs the sun; it . . . . Continue Reading »

The two witnesses of Revelation 11 are implicitly linked to Elijah adn Moses, Joshua and Zerubbabel, the two olive trees in Zechariah’s vision, and the lampstands of Zechariah’s vision. But the fire-breathing part (v. 5) is not so directly linked with these Old Testament precedents. . . . . Continue Reading »

Peter warns that Satan is a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). What does that mean? Judah is the lion tribe, and the Davidic king is a roaring lion (cf. Proverbs 19:12). The devil is a Davidic pretender, a counterfeit David. Yahweh Himself roars like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:4, 8), so the devil also . . . . Continue Reading »

Today at Trinity Reformed Church, the young children of the church led the procession with palm branches. Here are some of the reasons for that. In part, we took a page from the worship of ancient Israel. At the climax of Israel’s liturgical year, everyone commemorated the wilderness period . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 11:7-8: And the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He immediately went to the temple. What He saw filled Him with outrage: Jews were going about their sacrifices and their . . . . Continue Reading »