England and Enlightenment

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:36 pm By Peter Leithart

Paul Rahe has a fascinating article in the Summer 2004 issue of the Wilson Quarterly , in which he discusses the assessments of 18th-century world order that were offered by Voltaire and Montesquieu. Along the way, he suggests a connection between French interest in the English constitution and the development of the philosophes’ critique of the ancien regime. And, he suggests that French interest in England was provoked by the English-led victory over France at the battle of Blenheim in... Read more

Eucharistic Meditation, August 15

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:38 pm By Peter Leithart

1 Kings 1:25 This morning?s sermon text contrasts two rival princes, both vying for the throne of David. Adonijah attempts to lift himself up, and ends up abased; Solomon does nothing, relying on the intercession of his mother, and yet he inherits the kingdom. Part of the contrast is a contrast of two coronations. Both Adonijah and Solomon go with their supporters to a spring, a garden setting, and there celebrate the coronation. And both of them engage in feasting... Read more

Exhortation, August 15

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:40 pm By Peter Leithart

Slavery is back in the local news, and it?s a good time once again to reflect on how we should deal with this subject. First and foremost, we must examine what the Scriptures say about slavery, since the Bible is our ultimate authority of faith and practice. A central theme of the Bible in this regard is the liberation of slaves. Israel was defined as the people whom Yahweh had delivered from slavery in Egypt, Jesus preached a year of... Read more

Imputation

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

In most Reformation theology, imputation is a distinct act from justification. God Christ’s righteousness to us, and in a distinct act declares that we are righteous because Christ’s righteousness clothes and covers us. Is this what Paul means by LOGIZOMAI (“reckon, impute”)? I don’t mean to resolve that question in this brief comment; but there is evidence that Paul considers LOGIZOMAI to be virtually interchangeable with KRINEIN (“judge”). Thomas Schreiner points to Rom 2:3; 14:14; and 1 Cor 4:1 as... Read more

Justification and Sacramental theology

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

Many Protestants today, perhaps most in the Reformed churches, believe that justification by faith is threatened by a high sacramental theology. The more efficacy you attribute to baptism, the less prominence you give to faith. While it is true that certain kinds of sacramental theology might be a threat to faith (some forms of late medieval sacramental theology come to mind), the Reformers appear not to have felt much of this tension. Zwingli (perhaps) excepted, the Reformers to a man... Read more

“To Obey Its Lusts”

Last updated on: August 14, 2004 at 6:20 pm By Peter Leithart

We tend to think of desire as the antithesis of submission to authority. Saying “I ate that chocolate pie because I wanted to” is the opposite of saying “I ate my broccoli because Moma told me to.” Paul, however, recognizes the imperative force of desire. Urging the Romans to resist the reign of Sin, who attempts to reassert mastery over those who have died to sin, Paul says that we must “not let sin reign in your mortal bodies to... Read more

“To Obey Its Lusts”

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

1 Kings 1

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

Here is a very rough, very wooden and literal, translation of 1 Kings 1. Now the king David was old, entering in days. And they covered him in clothes And it was not warm to him. And his servants said to him, ?Let them seek for my lord the king a young woman, a virgin And let her stand before the king And let her be to him an attendant/stewardess And let her lie in your lap And it will... Read more

The Other Frenchman

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:56 pm By Peter Leithart

Descartes is often credited with being the fountainhead of modern philosophy, but Robert Solomon suggess instead that the modern notion of the self comes from Rousseau: “What Rousseau discovered in the woods of France was a self so rich and substantial, so filled with good feelings and half-articulated good thoughts, so expansive, natural, and at peace with the universe, that he recognized it immediately as something much more than HIS singular self. It was rather the Self as such, the... Read more

Numerology

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:09 am By Peter Leithart

I continue to be very impressed with Victor Wilson’s Divine Symmetries . Here are a few excerpts from his brief discussion of numerology: 1. Abraham is 140 when Isaac and Rebekah marry. Isaac and Rebekah’s marriage lasts precisely that long, and this number is the sum of 1 squared through 7 squared. 2. The ages of the patriarchs all have numerological value, and these values form a sequence. Abraham is 175, the product of 7 X 5 squared. When you... Read more