Peter J. Leithart

An article in the January 28, 2010 issue of the New York Times cites a study that indicates that, contrary to the defenses offered for a change in law, gay marriage does not nudge homosexuals toward monogamy: “A study to be released next month is offering a rare glimpse inside gay . . . . Continue Reading »

No, according to A.N. Williams, writing in New Blackfriars .  Williams defines foundationalism not only in terms of the structural distinction between basic and inferred propositions, but in telic terms: “the purpose of the non-inferred or basic propositions is to impart to the structure . . . . Continue Reading »

I got interviewed by some idiots here:  http://idiots.dunedain.net/ That is not an insult.  That’s what they call themselves. . . . . Continue Reading »

Doves, Keel argues from comparative ancient evidence, are messengers of love.  ”Your eyes are doves,” thus, means that the eyes send inviting messages. Which sparks out in all kinds of directions: The dove is the Spirit, messenger of the Father’s love for His Son, and for us; . . . . Continue Reading »

Love, Andreas Capellanus assures us, improves the lover in every way - it makes him stronger, smarter, more virtuous, better looking. And this isn’t just a conceit of the courtly lover tradition.  It’s biblical. The lover in the Song leaps tall mountains in a single bound, just so . . . . Continue Reading »

The Shunamite calls herself a lotus; her lover agrees: She is like a “lotus among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2) Thorns and thistles grow up from the earth and make it difficult for Adam to produce his bread.  Thorns means that he eats only by the sweat of his nose.  And . . . . Continue Reading »

Othmar Keel argues that the Shunamite of the Song of Songs (2:1) identifies herself not with a “modest little flower” but as the “lotus of the plains.”  With this, she confidently compares herself with “one of the favorite symbols in the region stretching from . . . . Continue Reading »

In a review of Robert Solomon’s last book ( True To Our Feelings ), Ronnie de Sousa reflects on gratitude, one of Solomon’s themes.  He finds gratitude to any God rather horrifying: “For my part, having long passed the age at which most human beings who have ever lived are . . . . Continue Reading »

Lakoff and Johnson explain why Aristotle must reduce metaphor to linguistic deviance: Aristotle employs the metaphors “Ideas are Essences” and “Essences are Forms,” and on this basis argues that “things in the world . . . can be directly grasped by the mind. . . . . Continue Reading »

At the beginning of   Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ (Challenges in Contemporary Theology) , William Cavanaugh challenges the distinction between state and civil society that is inherent in much Christian thinking about politics.  The two are . . . . Continue Reading »