Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The story of Judges 19 and the subsequent chapters are some of the most shocking and appalling accounts in all of Scripture. The callousness of the old host and the Levite, and the monstrous brutality of the men of Gibeah, leaves us feebly scrabbling for words by which to surmount…
David has become king. He has conquered the capital city of Jerusalem. He has brought the ark of Yahweh into the city and placed it in a tent. He has stationed Levites at the tent to offer sacrifices of praise. An anomaly hits him: He has a cedar-paneled palace, and…
In Part 2 of this series we traced what we have of the development of the epiclesis in the liturgy of the Church. In this third and final part we’ll look at the theological implications of this and how we may apply what we’ve learned. As we saw in Part…
In a 2014 piece published in First Things , I offered a "wish list" for Protestant churches, a checklist for a future catholic Protestantism. The wish list doesn't cover everything. It doesn't mention those things that Protestants, especially Evangelicals, already do, often exceedingly well, things like missions and evangelism and…
In the first part of this series we examined the meaning of “blessing” in Scripture and its parallels in Jewish liturgical tradition, but did not find anything that we could properly call an epiclesis (an invocation of the Holy Spirit). We did find examples of invocation of Jesus to “come”…
When the Aaronic priests were ordained, the blood of the ram of "filling” was placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe (Lev. 8:22-24). Similarly, the cleansing rite for a leper included smearing the right ear lobe, thumb, and big toe with…
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In the twenty and seventh year to Asa king of Yehudah Reigned-as-king Zimriy seven days in Tirtzah. Not the people [were] encamping against Gibbethon which [was] to the Pilshetim. And heard the people who were encamping, saying, ?Zimriy bound-together and also struck the king.?E And they caused to be king,…
In creating the world, Isaiah 48:13 tells us, God “laid the foundations of the earth.” In the context, this not only refers to Yahweh’s place at the origin of all things but His place at the end of all things: “I am He, I am the first, I am also…
INTRODUCTION Jeroboam?s dynasty has come and gone, and so has Baasha?s mirror-image dynasty. Omri initiates a new dynasty, and this is the most successful one in Israel?s history. It is also the most idolatrous one. THE TEXT ?In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in…
[ This post, unfortunately, was accidentally deleted in a server crash and has not been recovered. Maybe someday Dr. Leithart will rewrite it. ]
These thoughts are indebted to an article on Timon by Leo Paul S. de Alvarez in Alvis and West, Shakespeare as Political Thinker (ISI, 2000). 1) The play begins with a collection of Athenian artisans coming onstage, and we are immediately reminded that we are in Athens, the city of…
Some basics on the atonement for class lecture. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION The church has never creedally determined the doctrine of the atonement. Several models of atonement have dominated the landscape since the patristic period. Each of these contains an element of truth, and has some biblical grounding, though some can go…
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