Peter J. Leithart

Israel complained about conditions in the wilderness. Some in Israel wanted to return to Egypt. In Egypt, they worshiped Egypt’s gods. Therefore: The complaint in the wilderness was a complaint against Yahweh, and conversely a call to turn back to the gods of the fathers. The logic is . . . . Continue Reading »

Shestov again, from a 1921 letter to his daughters: “When the infant grows up, he is no longer attracted by his mother’s breast, but it would not be natural if, from the first day, he rejected it. When we ascend a staircase we leave behind the lower step in passing to the higher, but . . . . Continue Reading »

Shestov again, summarizing the implications of Kierkegaard’s insight that sin is an effort to shore ourselves up against our createdness: “The Nothingness that the tempter pointed out to our forefather prompted his fear before the unlimited will of the Creator; and he rushed to . . . . Continue Reading »

In an essay on Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard, Lev Shestov traces Kierkegaard’s pilgrimage away from his youthful enthusiasm for Hegel toward biblical faith. On Kierkegaard’s reading, Hegel urged that philosophy and spirit transcend the finite and silly obsessions of Scripture, which . . . . Continue Reading »

First Pharaoh attacks Israel. Then the Amalekites attack, an attack from a fraternal enemy, a descendant of Esau (Genesis 36). Finally, Moses gets attacked by various rebels within Israel. Israel gets attacked by the Gentiles, by the brother Amalekites, by nearer brothers within Israel. And Moses . . . . Continue Reading »

In today’s sermon text, Israel fights Amalekites for the first time. It is not the last battle with Amalek. Saul has to fight them too, and David, and they aren’t finally wiped out until the book of Esther. Each time Israel defeats Amalek, other Gentiles turn to the Lord. After the . . . . Continue Reading »

Exodus 17:10: Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. There are two locations in this story, and two groups of people. Down below, in the valley, Joshua and the armies of Israel fight the Amalekites. Up on the top of a hill . . . . Continue Reading »

According to Debora Shuger’s rich and provocative description, Grotius sets out to give a “demythologized” account of the sacrifice of Christ. He tries to show that penal substitution is rooted in acknowledge legal practices and rules, deriving especially from Roman public law. . . . . Continue Reading »

Defending the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Sepulveda argued that the Indians had forfeited their rights because they violated natural law by cannibalism and human sacrifice. Las Casas defended the Indians not by denying the charges but by defending human sacrifice on the basis of natural law. . . . . Continue Reading »

In his Discourses on Livy , Machiavelli speculates nostalgically that the anemic modern attachment to freedom is due to the insipidity of modern sacrifice: “When I meditated on the reason why people were more in love with freedom in those ancient times than they are now, I saw it was because . . . . Continue Reading »