There should be – probably there is – an anthropological study of Western philosophy as a highly rarefied form of dirt avoidance. Plato with his “pure and unadulterated” access to truth; Descartes’ clear and distinct ideas; Kant’s purity of reason. I’m thinking of a history of philosophy that reads Plato through the lens of Robert Parker’s Miasma , and modern philosophy through Purity and Danger . Read more
J.L. Simmons notes that Shakespeare consistently depicts Rome “as a pagan world in which the characters must perforce operate with no reference beyond the Earthly City.” As a result, “all attempts to rise above the restrictions of man and his imperfect society, are tragically affected by the absence of revelation and the real hope of glory. Implying this historical dimension, Shakespeare views his Roman world with the cosmic irony of what that world could not know.” Read more
Some discarded fragments from a paper that got too long. As early as Xenophon, ingratitude has seen as a cause of sedition, and during the middle ages the social and political context of feudalism strengthened this link. Xenophon wrote, “And they [the Persians] bring one another to trial also charged with an offense for which people hate one another most but go to law least, namely, that of ingratitude; and if they know that any one is able to return... Read more
Some discarded fragments from a paper that got too long. As early as Xenophon, ingratitude has seen as a cause of sedition, and during the middle ages the social and political context of feudalism strengthened this link. Xenophon wrote, “And they [the Persians] bring one another to trial also charged with an offense for which people hate one another most but go to law least, namely, that of ingratitude; and if they know that any one is able to return... Read more
INTRODUCTION In the first chapters of Ephesians, Paul describes God’s eternal plan for the human race and for the world. He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and He has now intervened in the history of death and sin to rescue us, to exalt us with Christ to heavenly places, and to unify the human race in His Son. In the remainder of the letter, Paul teaches the Ephesians about the way of life consistent... Read more
Bavinck argues that without anthropomorphism, we have only skepticism and agnosticism: “Those . . . who contest our right to use anthropomorphisms, thereby in princiuple deny the possibility that God in fact reveals himself in his creatures, are logically bound to proceed to the denial of creation, and are finally left with nothing more than an eternal sualism between God and the world, the infinite and the finite. For if our calling God by anthropomorphic names implies a finitization of... Read more
During the staging of his play before the king, Hamlet mutters the word “Wormwood.” Why? Irwin Matus suggests the following: “Rarely glossed in editions of the play, wormwood is accepted as meaning only something bitter, from the taste of the plant of that name. However, the plant was also used to make a vermifuge: a syrup that expels intestinal worms. This may be the more appropriate meaning within the context of both the scene and the play, in which Hamlet... Read more
Shakespeare’s two tetrologies on English history trace the shift from a sacrally based political order (Richard II) to a “Machiavellian” one (Richard III). That is the sequence of actual history. But the sequence of Shakespeare’s composition is different. Shakespeare wrote the historically later tetrology (2 Parts of Henry VI and Richard III) first, and then followed with the second (Richard II, 2 Parts of Henry IV, Henry V). Henry V is, in terms of order of composition, the climax of... Read more
Markus Barth highlights the judicial cast of Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:7 that we “show the surpassing riches of His grace.” The verb “show” or “prove” is a lawcourt term, pointing to the presentation of evidence or a judicial demonstration. God has raised us up in Jesus to the heavenly places as part of His case against humanity, as part of the demonstration of His righteousness and goodness. In God’s suit with the world, the church is the centerpiece of... Read more
Ephesians 2:14: He Himself is our peace. Jesus is the one who brings peace between God and man. He has reconciled us to God, and brought near those who have been far off. But in our sermon text Paul is chiefly concerned with the peace that Jesus has brought between men. He is our peace, because He has made both groups into one, breaking down the barrier of the dividing wall (v. 14). He is our peace because He has... Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In