Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Russian Orthodox liturgist Alexander Schmemann died in 1983, but his importance continues to grow, sometimes in surprising ways. A Russian transplanted to Paris and then to Crestwood, New York, he was an acute observer of the American religious scene. He possessed the clarity of vision the Spirit often grants to…
This is the fifth in a series of studies of Deuteronomy 22:3-23:8. "A bastard ( mazmer ) shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh" (Deuteronomy 23:2). [i] The translation “bastard” here for mazmer ,…
The Enlightenment project is very comprehensible in terms of the “Wars of Religion” that followed the Reformation. It's questionable whether all that is said about the Wars of Religion is entirely fair (R. J. Rushdoony’s Christian Survey of World History has some very helpful things to say about this). Still,…
The fourth in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22:30-23:8. One wounded by crushing, or cut in the member shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 23:1. [i] The translation of this verse varies in different English versions. The basic idea is clear enough, however: a eunuch is…
Trinity House President Peter Leithart will give a lecture on violence at the 2013 Wheaton Theology Conference later this week.
The third in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22-23. This continues the second essay, which examines Deuteronomy 22:30: "A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s wing" (Hebrew: kanaf ). The Sin of Ham Another story would almost certainly occur to an ancient…
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Reviewing two new translations of the Iliad (by Peter Green and Barry Powell ), Hayden Pelliccia explores some of the challenges of translating Homer. It starts from the very beginning. Homer writes (in Greek word order): “Wrath sing, goddess, Peleus-son Achilles’, baneful, which hurled.” What's an English translator to do?…
The responses to the Nobel selection of Kazuo Ishiguro for the 2017 literature prize drew mixed, underwhelmed responses. Someone wrote that he wasn't awarded the prize for any recent books. The Paris Review , though, posted an old interview to celebrate. As readers of Ishiguro's novels would expect, the author…
In Introduction to Christianity , Joseph Ratzinger explains how the dogma of the Trinity emerged from early Christian experience. The apostles discovered that "in Jesus Christ one meets a man who at the same time knows and professes himself to be the Son of God. One finds God in the…
Peter Brown reviews of Sarah Ruden's new translation of Augustine's Confessions in this weeks New York Review of Books . I can't speak to the translation, but I can speak to the reviewer: Everything Peter Brown writes is worth reading. He comments on Ruden's decision to translate dominus as "master"…
As we would expect, Rosenstock-Huessy assembles his grammatical material into a Cross. With the distinction of words and names in mind, we can see how Rosenstock-Huessy describes the function of speech in human life and society in a quadrilateral manner. He develops his point through a brief phenomenology of speech.…
Old Testament purity rules are badly understood, and a host of myths have surrounded them. Here I discuss three. Myth #1: Uncleanness is "dirtiness." Though there is some overlap between "dirt" and "impurity," the latter has a specific significance. If we take Mary Douglas's definition of dirt as “matter out…
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