Matthew mentions Sodom three times – in 10:15 and twice in 11:23-24. In the second, He says that the cities that have refused to repent when He did miracles will be judged more harshly than Sodom; in the first, He says that those who reject His disciples will be subject to the same judgment. To reject Jesus’ apostolic representatives is to reject Jesus Himself; and both those who reject Jesus and those who reject His apostles act like Sodomites, raping... Read more
James Wood is always illuminating, but never more so than when he’s giving a book a sharply negative review, as he does with Updike’s recent Terrorist (reviewed in TNR July 3). My favorite line: “When Ahmad [the terrorist of the title] speaks, he sounds like V. S. Naipaul; but when Ahmad thinks, he sounds like John Updike.” Wood, as always, addresses the theological dimensions of the novel. While acknowledging Updike’s religious impulses (“the world is uncomplicatedly God’s, and it exists... Read more
James Wood is always illuminating, but never more so than when he’s giving a book a sharply negative review, as he does with Updike’s recent Terrorist (reviewed in TNR July 3). My favorite line: “When Ahmad [the terrorist of the title] speaks, he sounds like V. S. Naipaul; but when Ahmad thinks, he sounds like John Updike.” Wood, as always, addresses the theological dimensions of the novel. While acknowledging Updike’s religious impulses (“the world is uncomplicatedly God’s, and it exists... Read more
It’s a commonplace of liberal theology that Jesus is a great teacher, but no more. Jesus is certainly a teacher in Matthew’s gospel, but David Bauer points out that the only people who call him rabbi are strangers or opponents (8:19; 12:38). Oh, yes, and Judas (26:25, 49). Disciples, those who actually know Jesus, call Him “Lord.” Read more
Louis Dupre writes, “Shakespeare’s comedies, the accomplished masterpieces of this playful oscillation [between appearance and reality], leave the viewer utterly confused about what must count as real and what as illusion. The theatre here parodies a real-life fear of deception concerning the true nature of the outside world. The constantly shifting appearances of that world irresistibly drives the reflective mind inwardly.” Well, maybe. But then every Wodehouse story originates from the same device of mistaken identity, and he hardly betrays... Read more
TNR (July 3) has several articles on conservative culture. Rick Perlstein suggests that conservatism is a “jerry-rigged” coalition that has little ideological unity. But conservative is unified nonetheless: “you never see the sponsors of purity balls going on CNN to denounce ‘Ann Coulter Gone Wild.’” Conservatives are united not by ideas but by a culture. He defines culture as “the performances people enact in their everyday lives that outline the boundaries between those who belong and those who don’t.” Specifically,... Read more
Jesus teaches in parables to fulfill what the prophet spoke: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world” (Matt 13:35). The “prophet” cited is Asaph (Psalm 78:2), and the Psalm cited is a review of Israel’s history from the exodus, through the wilderness, to the destruction of Shiloh and the choosing of David and Zion. For the musical prophet Asaph, Israel’s history is a parable and a hidden mystery. That... Read more
Illusion and truth are opposites, right? But isn’t it the case that illusion is an integral part of true perception. The sofa across the room is no bigger than my thumbnail, and I can blot out the tree with my forefinger. If these objects appeared to me in their actual size, I could have no perception of their distance from me, their real distance. Given that we exist in space, illusion is a necessary aspect of every accurate perception. (Of... Read more
The Enlightenment held to a belief in human perfectibility, it is often said. The term itself was coined by Rousseau, but Rousseau saw it as a deeply ambiguous faculty, “the source of all misfortunes of man.” Perfectibility is the faculty that draws together and motivates all other faculties so as to realize one’s desires in the world; it is the faculty or impulse that makes desire active in the world. Imagination, which, for Rousseau, has infinite scope, impels desire; perfectibility... Read more
Jesus warns at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that those who hear His words and fail to do them will collapse. The image of the collapsing house, as NT Wright has suggested, likely refers to the temple: Jesus is setting out a program for Israel’s national survival (as well as a program for Christian discipleship); if Israel would follow his words, their house will be secured by the rock and will not be left desolate. Jesus describes... Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In