Peter J. Leithart

Alec Motyer ( The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary ) observes that “Isaiah is the prophet of holiness.  In the Isaianic literature the adjective ‘holy’ ( qadosh ) is used of God more frequently than in all the rest of the Old Testament taken . . . . Continue Reading »

When Moses turned the Nile to blood, the fish died and a stench arose (Exodus 7:18, 21).  Nothing is said about fish or putrid smells in the account of Exodus in the Pentateuch.  When Isaiah recounts the exodus, however, he talks about the dying stinking fish: “Behold, I dry up . . . . Continue Reading »

Some thoughts arising from a conversation with Toby Sumpter, Doug Jones and Gabe Telling. Moses is the first human god ( elohim ) in Scripture, the first man to grow up to the fuller image of Yahweh.  He is god in relation to his mouth, his brother Aaron (Exodus 4:16) and also to Pharaoh . . . . Continue Reading »

In his best-selling WAR , Vanity Fair ‘s Sebastian Junger explains how war envelops the soldiers who make it.  Some representative quotations: “Almost none of the things that make life feel worth living back home are present at Restrepo, so the entire range of a young man’s . . . . Continue Reading »

As William Cavanaugh details ( The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict ), the concept of religion is an invention of the late medieval and early modern West.  In the theory of religion as developed by Deists and Freethinkers, there was an original, . . . . Continue Reading »

In his classic Patterns in Comparative Religion , Mircea Eliade notes the doubleness of water symbolism across religions.  The natural properties of water provide the basis for the view that water is both deadly dangerous and life-giving: “In whatever religious framework it appears, the . . . . Continue Reading »

In his 2003 Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 3rd Edition (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society, Vol. 13) , Mark Juergensmeyer distinguishes between religious violence with its “symbolic targets” and “performative violence” from . . . . Continue Reading »

Yahweh says “light,” and as soon as the word sounds light appears.  God says, “waters divide,” and they are divided.  And so on and on throughout the creation week.  This is the form of Yahweh’s creating activity: Whatever the word means, that’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Haugen notes several times in his book that “the vast majority of victims of injustice in the developing world are not victimized by complicated, knotted violations of human rights, but rather by simple, brutal acts of violence that are already against the law in their own countries. . . . . Continue Reading »

In his stirring, challenging Good News About Injustice, Updated 10th Anniversary Edition: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World , Gary Haugen of International Justice Mission gives a fresh spin to living by faith instead of sight: “Christians . . . are meant to be particularly gifted in . . . . Continue Reading »