Peter J. Leithart

Following up on the last post: Perhaps we are to see Judas throwing the money to the priests as a kind of day of atonement.  He “throws” ( hripto ) Jesus’ innocent blood, turned to cash, into the temple, then leaves the temple (like a scapegoat) and kills himself.  The . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus’ blood is the blood of the covenant, poured out for forgiveness (Matthew 26:28).  How does it remove sin? We find a surprising answer to this when we trace the trail of blood through Matthew’s gospel.  Blood is first mentioned in Jesus’ diatribe against the scribes . . . . Continue Reading »

Why does Jesus get angry when there is no fruit on the fig tree?  The Song of Songs, along with Isaiah 5, is in the background.  Israel is the vineyard-garden of Yahweh, which also means Israel is Yahweh’s bride.  When He comes seeking fruit, it is not only . . . . Continue Reading »

When Sheba visits Solomon, she brings spices.  1 Kings 10 uses the word besem four times (vv. 2, 10 [2x], 25), suggesting that the spices come from the four points of the compass.  Spices are exotic in Israel, a sign of the Gentiles flowing to the mountain of God. What were the spices . . . . Continue Reading »

John Paul II offers a profound and subtle analysis of the  the sources of sexual deviance in his theology of the body.  The steps are: 1. Lust is a disorder of the spirit, and breaks the natural bond between body and soul.  Men no longer act as single simple beings, their bodily . . . . Continue Reading »

Given that so much evangelical energy is spend defending “objectivity” and “objective truth” against postmodern subjectivism, it’s striking to turn to John Paul II and find him placing the emphasis on precisely the opposite side of things.  For John Paul, the . . . . Continue Reading »

INTRODUCTION Who was tried by Pontius Pilate, tortured, and crucified?  All the heretics denied it, but Christian orthodoxy has always said that, impossible as it seems, the One who suffered on the cross was none other than God the Son in human flesh. THE TEXT “When morning came, all the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Peter 5:14: Greet one another with a kiss of love. We have said it often before, but it bears repeating: The command to greet one another with a kiss is one of the most frequently repeated commands of Scripture.  Paul says it at the end of Romans, and then at the end of 1 Corinthians, and 2 . . . . Continue Reading »

Peter closes his first letter with exhortations to two generations within his churches.  He exhorts the elders who lead the church to shepherd the flock not as lords but as examples, following the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  To the younger people, he says “submit yourselves to . . . . Continue Reading »

Deleuze and Guattari chide Lacan for assuming, with most of the Western philosophical tradition, that desire expresses a lack.  They suggest instead that desire is productive, that we are “desiring machines.” Why would everyone think that desire expresses lack?  Calvin would . . . . Continue Reading »