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Writing

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Theopolis News

Constantine the Pious

Trinity House President Peter Leithart will deliver a lecture on "Constantine the Pious" at Oregon State University, Wednesday, October 30, at 7:00 PM.

by Peter LeithartOctober 29, 2013
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Modernity

We Have Never Been Modern

In his rich study, We Have Never Been Modern (Harvard 1993), Bruno Latour describes modernity in terms of a dual process of “purification” and “hybridization.” Purification involves the clean construction of a nature (and science) separated off from society and the self, while hybridization involves mixtures of nature and culture.…

by Peter LeithartOctober 28, 2013
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Books

Conservatives on the Cutting Edge

In James K.A. Smith’s excellent book, Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology , he explains recent developments in theology and philosophy among mostly post-liberal (some Catholic) theologians. As with everything Dr. Smith writes, his prose is accessible, and written with clarity and precision as he describes the contribution made…

by Troy GreeneOctober 23, 2013
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Biblical Theology

The Creator in Creation, (Part 3)

This is the last of a three-part series. 1:14-19 – The Lights in the Firmament The fourth day is the first day where God sets out His mediators and rulers. In the celestial bodies, God sets out His mediators and rulers in the same single class of created beings. We…

by Andrew BittnerOctober 22, 2013
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Theopolis News

Revealing Revelation

Trinity House President Peter Leithart will be in Chicago this weekend lecturing on Revelation. Sign up here .

by Peter LeithartOctober 17, 2013
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Theopolis News

In the Beginning

Only two more weeks to register for the Trinity House Advent class on the book of Genesis. Register before the late fees kick in!

by Peter LeithartOctober 17, 2013

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Philosophy

Smith on Derrida

James Smith’s conclusions regarding Derrida express more clearly than I’ve been able to do my own sense of Derrida. These are scattered quotations from The Fall of Interpretation , pp. 127-129: “Derrida is honest about not challenging for a moment Rousseau’s and Levi-Strauss’s reading of violence; his own analysis is…

October 15, 2003

Interpretation and the Fall

James K. A. Smith has a neat scheme for summarizing different view of interpretation in terms of the categories of creation and fall. For some thinkers, interpretation and the possibility of misinterpretation are results of the Fall; for others, interpretation and misinterpretation is inherent in created life, though there is…

October 15, 2003
Philosophy

Another Benefit of Derrida: Because

Another benefit of Derrida: Because he puts philosophical issues in mythological and metaphorical terms, he moves philosophy into the field of theology. As I’ve pointed out in a number of posts, Derrida (following Plato) speaks of the relationship between speaker and speech (or sometimes between speech and writing) as a…

October 14, 2003
History

Writing and Democratization

JP Vernant points out the connection between writing and democratization: “In the kingdoms of the New East, writing was a privilege and specialty of scribes. Writing enabled the royal administration to control the economic and social life of the State by keeping records of it. Its purpose was to constitute…

October 14, 2003
Philosophy

Pharmakos

Well, here’s an interesting coincidence (pointed to by Derrida, still in “Plato’s Pharmacy”): Derrida is discussing the ritual of the pharmakos , which he is connecting to Plato’s various uses of pharmak - words in discussions of knowledge, language, and other issues. The pharmakos rite was a scapegoat ritual, annually…

October 14, 2003
Philosophy

Why is Derrida Fun?

What is it that makes Derrida so stimulating and fun to read? At least for his treatment of standard philosophical works (I’m reading “Plato’s Pharmacy” in Disseminations ), I think it’s mainly that he shows that philosophy is not about what undergraduate courses in philosophy teach you it is about.…

October 14, 2003

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