Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The chronology of the Kings of Judah and Israel can be divided into three periods with clearly defined boundaries. The first period begins with the death of Solomon and the accessions of Rehoboam in the south (Judah) and Jeroboam in the north (Israel). It ends with the deaths of Ahaziah…
Most modern people regard the arts as essentially decorative. They are hardly very important, as compared to business, politics, or religion. Yet, from a Biblical point of view, the arts lie close to the heart of human life. The universe that God created is itself an artistic masterpiece by the…
Before we move into a detailed survey of the history and chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah, let us review the chronological information that leads from creation to the kingdom. This will be helpful both to new readers of these essays, and a reminder for those who have…
We have completed our overall survey of Biblical chronology, and now turn to a detailed examination of the Biblical information regarding the chronology of Israel’s kings. The first piece of chronological information we have regarding Israel’s kings is very cryptic, and it serves as an guide to the interpretation of…
Jonathan Z. Smith, To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987). Reviewed by Peter J. Leithart. The philosophes of the 18th century often attacked Christendom using the tools of anthropology and comparative religion. Rousseau contrasted the idyllic equality of primitive, natural peoples with the bondage…
Valerie I. J. Flint, The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe (Princeton University Press, 1991). Reviewed by Peter J. Leithart. Valerie I. J. Flint, Professor of History at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, is refreshingly candid about her reasons for undertaking a study of The Rise of Magic…
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I listened to a torturous discussion last week in which Terry Gross and Northwestern's Laura Kipnis discussed Kipnis's Chronicle of Higher Education article challenging university prohibitions of romance between faculty members and students. What's the big deal? Kipnis wanted to know. In her day, sex with professors was a normal…
In his contribution to Denominatonalism , editor Russell Richey argues that mid-19th century disputes over slavery and other political questions (a series of “ultraisms,” as he puts it) did not so much create as expose “the fault line in purposive association, namely, that . . . denominations and voluntary societies…
G lenn C. Arbery is a literature professor, and he knows his limits. Literature professors can't bestow importance on great literature, writes Arbery ( Why Literature Matters ). What they are qualified to do, he says, is to bestow honor, “because meaningful praise has to come from those who know…
“Modern civilization, aghast at the results of a conflict between societies which had acknowledged no higher ideal than the pride of an ignorant nationalism, looks forward fearfully and almost helplessly to a yet mightier conflagration of the hates and passions it has nurtured. Remembering the holocaust which ethical stupidity has…
When the Cold War ended with the Berlin Wall being dismantled and the Soviet Union breaking up, the West breathed a sigh of relief. Prematurely, as it turns out. Islamicism rose hard on the heels of Communism's fall. And, according to George Friedman , the fall and the rise are…
In Torah, “abomination” ( to'evah ) fits into the lexicon of holiness, purity, defilement. It often describes an act that transgresses created boundaries and confuses created categories (homosexual sex, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; a man wearing woman's clothing, Deuteronomy 22:15). Specifically, sexual sin (Leviticus 18:26-30), idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:25-26; 12:31) and…
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