Sermon Outline, September 25

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:01 am By Peter Leithart

INTRODUCTION One of the great evils of American Christianity is the idolization of the family. American Christians believe that blood is thicker than baptismal water, and that the family is a redemptive institution. But the primary family for Christians is the “brotherhood” of the church, and Jesus stressed that discipleship may require breaking ties with the blood family (Matthew 10:35-37; Luke 14:26). Though families are not redemptive in themselves, through the gospel they are redeemed and become powerful agents for... Read more

Metonymic Imagination

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:10 am By Peter Leithart

One sometimes hears references to a “metaphorical imagination,” but biblical imagery often works also by metonymy. It is not only that the tree of, say, Psalm 1 “stands for” strength or stability. It is that, as the Psalm makes clear by emphasizing the fruitfulness or the tree who is a righteous man. Even when the Bible functions metaphorically, the move is not from “concrete image” to “abstract quality.” It is from concrete to concrete. The righteous man is treelike because... Read more

Hermeneutics test

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:43 pm By Peter Leithart

Many object to typology because it seems to lack control, but one obvious control is historical context. Consider this piece of poetry: Jack-booted waves march down a silent street, Cross the thresholds of besieged homes, Batter doors, and smother all in brown. Think about how the imagery works if the title of the poem is “Lament for New Orleans.” Then think about how the imagery works if the title of the poem is “Warsaw Ghetto, 1943.” (more…) Read more

Cunondrum of the day

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:51 pm By Peter Leithart

“Figure of speech” is a figure of speech. Read more

Imprecation and mercy

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:44 pm By Peter Leithart

Are imprecatory prayers inconsistent with the biblical demand to love our enemies? On the surface it seems so, but since the Bible contains both imprecations and commands to love our enemy and since Scripture is internally consistent, they cannot be contradictory. Far from being contradictory, in fact, they are mutually supporting. This is the point Paul makes in Romans 12. In one breath, he tells the Romans to refrain from revenge and leave room for the wrath of God the... Read more

Orwell and English prose

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:05 am By Peter Leithart

In his 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell cites this from Harold Laski: “I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to say that the Milton who once seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not become, out of an experience ever more bitter in each year, more alien [sic] to the founder of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce him to tolerate.” Parse that if you can. This, along with four other examples,... Read more

Eucharistic meditation, September 18

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:39 pm By Peter Leithart

Joshua 10:26-27: Afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening. And it came about at sunset that Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day. The Bible is written in the style of “theme and variations.” Stories... Read more

Exhortation, September 18

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:41 pm By Peter Leithart

In today’s sermon, we’ll learn about Joshua’s zeal for fighting the enemies of Yahweh in order to conquer the land of promise. While he is fighting five kings, the sun begins to go down. He could easily have said, “Enough for today. We can take care of them tomorrow.” Instead, he asked Yahweh to lengthen the day, so that he could finish the battle and gain the victory. Zeal in battle is not optional. At the end of Judges is... Read more

Isaiah 61

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:45 pm By Peter Leithart

A student suggests that Isaiah 61 is chiastically organized, and centers on verses 5-6, which promise that strangers will pasture the flocks of Israel and that Israel will consume the treasures of the nations. Overall, the passage announces the good news of return, the great Jubilee of Israel’s restoration to her land following the Babylonian exile, and moves toward the climactic marriage/garden scene in verses 10-11. And at the center of this prophecy of Israel’s restoration is a promise of... Read more

Accommodated revelation?

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm By Peter Leithart

Accommodation is often trotted out as a way to account for the unscientific language of Scripture. We now know that the earth does not rise and set, but the ancient Hebrews did not know that, and so God accommodated Himself to their (low) level of scientific knowledge when He guided the writing of Scripture. I’ve got multiple problems with this theory. One of the primary ones is that it assumes that the “non-scientific” language of Scripture is false. That’s not... Read more