Peter J. Leithart

In the tabernacle system, oil is used for light on the golden menorah .  The priest receives aromatic oil that spread fragrance.  Cakes and breads baked or spread with oil become a sweet savor, soothing the heated nose of Yahweh. In both cases, oil bestows radiant power.  In the . . . . Continue Reading »

No human being gets anointed in Genesis; only pillars (Gen 28:18; 35:14).  The pillars represent the “house” of Yahweh, the cornerstones of the future temple. It’s not until Exodus 29 that we read of a human being anointed with oil.  Aaron is the first Christ.  He . . . . Continue Reading »

When you enter the land, Yahweh says, you will offer ascension offers with tributes of grain and with wine.  The wine is the new thing, the addition to Yahweh’s diet as Israel enters the land. Yahweh is the model Nazirite, refraining from wine and strong drink until He has driven out the . . . . Continue Reading »

The bride of the Song addresses Solomon as “my beloved” ( dodi ) some 25 times.  The phrasing is unusual; elsewhere, dod means not “beloved” but “uncle.”  In the LXX, the word is translated as adelphidos , used only in the Son. While the terminology is . . . . Continue Reading »

On second viewing, the Pixar movie Up , appealing enough in its first viewing, definitely got better.  The things that annoyed me, didn’t; what I thought were flaws, weren’t. Such as: The fast-paced first ten minutes were my favorite part of the movie the first time around; . . . . Continue Reading »

Pasnau again, on Thomas.  According to Thomas, human being ceases to exist at death, comes back into existence with the resurrection: “Aquinas believes that when I die, I go out of existence . . . . the soul’s separation causes death, and death puts an end to my existence.  We . . . . Continue Reading »

Soul and body make, for Thomas, as single unified substance.  But the demonstration of this point depends on whether one looks at the issue from the perpective of the parts (soul/body, or body parts) or the whole.  As Robert Pasnau ( Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature: A Philosophical Study . . . . Continue Reading »

Jenson notes that Barth was not opposed to philosophy, but “refused to depend on the official philosophers because what they offered to do for him he thought he should do for himself, in conversation with them when that seemed likely to help.” This leads Jenson to the striking claim . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 58:6-7: Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the . . . . Continue Reading »

Peter’s readers had a lot to fear, but Peter tells them not to fear.  More precisely, as Pastor Sumpter will point out in his sermon, Peter tells his readers not to “fear their fear,” not to fear as their opponents fear. In the passage that Peter quotes, Isaiah warns Israel not . . . . Continue Reading »