Peter J. Leithart

We typically think of Greeks as Apollonian and rational.  We don’t think of Greeks as people concerned with pollution and purity.  Like all ancient peoples, though, they were, as Robert Parker details in his wonderful Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion . . . . Continue Reading »

Herod tells the wise men to search for the Child king, and when they find Him to “bring me word” ( apaggelo ) so that Herod too might worship.  the verb becomes important at the end of Matthew’s gospel, when an aggelos appears at the open tomb, and both soldiers and women run . . . . Continue Reading »

Joseph of Genesis, son of Jacob, was a dreamer and a sage, an interpreter of dreams.  He was a wise man. So too Joseph of Matthew, father of Jesus.  The angel addresses him as “son of David” (Matthew 1:20), a title used almost exclusively of Solomon in the OT (1 Chr 29:23; 2 . . . . Continue Reading »

Matthew 1:18-2:23 sorts out into a neat chiasm: A. Joseph, angel, dream, Jesus born B. Wise men search for Jesus: to Herod C. Wise men visit Jesus: dream D. Joseph, dream flee to Egypt C’. Herod tricked by wise men B’. Herod kills children A’. Joseph, angel, dream, Jesus settles in . . . . Continue Reading »

Joseph, human father of Jesus, is a dreamer (Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19).  In each case, an angel appears in a dream to protect Jesus.  The first dream prevents Joseph from tucking Mary away, and the other two actually save Jesus’ life. Joseph is a dreamer, like his namesake from . . . . Continue Reading »

In his Of God and Gods: Egypt, Israel, and the Rise of Monotheism (George L. Mosse Series) , Jan Assmann argues that justice is a “generator of history,” that is, it is the concept/action that makes history a field of interaction between God and man.  In the Bible, in contrast to . . . . Continue Reading »

A long title for a short post. The prophets sometimes portray the collapse of Jerusalem by saying that the “voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride will be heard no more” (Jeremiah 7:34; 25:10; 33:11; Revelation 18:23).  ”I say there shall be no more . . . . Continue Reading »

My colleague Jonathan McIntosh takes issue with my post about nature in Aristotle: “I like the idea of questioning or challenging Aristotle’s notion of nature, but is it possible that your remarks confuse ‘not being  impeded by an external influence for the fulfillment of . . . . Continue Reading »

In 2006, Pope Benedict came under intense criticism for citing the harsh words of a fourteenth-century Byzantine emperor about Islam.  The Pope’s point was to highlight the importance of Greek philosophy in the Christian tradition.  He cited the following passage from the . . . . Continue Reading »

INTRODUCTION Isaiah prophesied in Judah during the reigns of several different kings (1:1).  To understand his prophecies, we need to know something about the times in which he was preaching. THE TEXT “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in . . . . Continue Reading »