Peter J. Leithart

John Milbank ends his stimulating and confounding opening essay in Paul’s New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology with this: “any hopeful political project requires a sense that we inhabit a cosmos in which the realization of good and of justice might be . . . . Continue Reading »

During the ETS discussion, Wright made a point of emphasizing that justification in Paul is one narrow slice of his theology and not the whole. Wright has been protesting for years against the expansion of “justification” to include everything that Paul says about salvation. At one . . . . Continue Reading »

At ETS last week, the Toms - Schreiner and Wright - debated Paul and justification, along with Frank Thielman. The discussion was illuminating on many points, but on one central point it frustratingly kept missing the point. Schreiner accused Wright of a false dichotomy between soteriological and . . . . Continue Reading »

INTRODUCTION Isaiah warns Judah not to trust man (2:22), and then gives the reason: Yahweh plans to remove all the powerful men from Jerusalem and Judah (3:1). THE TEXT “For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply . . . . Continue Reading »

Exodus 13:7-9: And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days . . . . Continue Reading »

In Genesis, firstborn sons are a brutish lot. Cain is the firstborn of firstborns, also the first fratricide. Ishmael mocks Isaac and is driven from Abraham’s camp. Esau would have been another Cain but for his brother Jacob’s wiliness. Jacob’s elder sons conspire to send Joseph . . . . Continue Reading »

Abel is righteous, but ends up dead at the hand of his brother. Jacob is perfect, and survives, in spite of Esau’s attempts to kill him. That progression foretells the progression of Israel’s exiles. In Egypt, they are “Abel,” exalted at first but eventually enslaved and . . . . Continue Reading »

Why did Yahweh send Israel to exile? Appealing to 2 Kings 25 and Ezekiel 17, Jon Levenson suggests that “Subjugation to the Babylonian emperor was indeed punitive, but the purpose of the punishment was to train the vassal in the ways of covenant fidelity. . . . We see here a chastened royal . . . . Continue Reading »

On Sinai, Moses intercedes for Israel, asking Yahweh to go with them. First, Yahweh promises to send His Angel ahead; finally, He promises to go before Israel Himself. The sequence of events from Exodus 19-40 is a double-covenant sequence. Israel agrees to do all that Yahweh commands, and . . . . Continue Reading »

Exodus lists the nations of the land of Canaan seven times, and the lists shift through the book. The lists are: Exodus 3:8: give land of 6 nations (Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, Jebusite). Exodus 3:17: give land of 6 nations (same as in 3:8). Exodus 13:5: give land of 5 nations . . . . Continue Reading »