Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Inspired by our recent podcast on Christmas and Advent music recommendations, we offer here a list of excellent recordings that are sure to enrich your Advent and Christmas season. Praetorius: Mass for Christmas Morning Paul McCreesh with the Gabrieli Consort and Players Amazon | Spotify | Apple Music 2. Christmas…
In the year 1483 in the city of Nuremberg, the leaders of the renowned Saint Lawrence Church were seeking to redesign their altar, and above the table where the priests presided over the eucharist, they wanted new art installed above the prestigious Krell altar. What they decided on took everyone…
The consequences of disobedience start with exile from the garden of God and the Tree of Yahweh, but they do not end there. They cascade down through the structure of the dynastic order. Everything which had previously been given in the Kingdom of Elohim is either taken back or curtailed…
Parallelism: A Course Correction If you have ever studied Hebrew poetry, you have probably heard its basic poetic feature described as “parallelism.” Hebrew poetry is not metered, it does not rhyme, it does not employ many of the common poetical tropes, but its distinctive (and almost universal) feature is commonly…
In The Crown and the Courts , David C. Flatto traces the development of the idea of judicial independence in Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures – particularly Deuteronomy 17 – from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. These periods roughly span 400 BC to 300 AD. Flatto does not…
A curious feature of the Infancy Narratives in the Gospel of Luke is the naming of John the Baptist. When the angel appears to Zechariah, he is instructed to give his promised son the name John (Luke 1:13). On the day of John’s circumcision, Luke tells us that “they [presumably…
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The demons that emerge from the abyssal cloud in Revelation 12 are initially are described as being like locusts. We know what that means. In the Egyptian plague, the scorpions cover the ground so that no one can see the land, and they eat and eat, eating everything that is…
Following the lead of John Paul II’s theology of the body, I offer some reflections on artistic depictions of the human body at http://www.firstthings.com/ this morning.
John Paul II has some wonderful passages in his discussion of Mathew 22:30, “In the resurrection they take neither wife nor husband, but are like the angels in heaven.” According to his analysis, this is not an annulment of the body or of sexuality but the fulfillment. For him, the…
I have generally used Leithart.com to share reading notes, engage in speculations in exploratory essays, record random thoughts and asides, occasionally to respond to critics. It’s not typically been a place for me to make personal announcements. This is an exception. For the past several months, I have been working…
In his contribution to Rethinking Trinitarian Theology: Disputed Questions And Contemporary Issues in Trinitarian Theology , Emmanuel Durand offers an Augustinian treatment of the role of the Spirit in the Father-Son relation: Generation is not merely a “mechanical” operation of divine essence or of the Father, but an expression of…
Sacraments, Louis-Marie Chauvet argues ( The Sacraments - The Word of God at the Mercy of the Body ), are matters of symbolic exchange. The sacrament is a gift and every gift demands a return gift. Not quite, argues Belcher ( Efficacious Engagement: Sacramental Participation in the Trinitarian Mystery 35):…
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