Augustine on “Visible-Invisible Church”

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:46 pm By Peter Leithart

In another talk at the Augustine seminar, a Princeton grad student provocatively claims that Augustine never used the “visible-invisible church” distinction. Admittedly, Augustine has some elements of that distinction, and he was read by the Reformers as supporting the Protestant view. But Augustine never uses the terminology (so far as this student has found). The earliest use of something like the later Reformed distinction (invisible = elect, visible = external structured church) is found in Wyclif, where the distinction is... Read more

Contemporary Readings of Augustine

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:49 pm By Peter Leithart

Jamie Smith of Calvin College gave an excellent talk on contemporary readings of Augustine, focusing on the Augustine of Derrida, Caputo, and Ward. According to Smith, Derrida and Caputo have some “formal” or “structural” affinities with Augustine (eg, love is the driving force of religion), but lack any criteria for discerning the difference between true religion and false. For Augustine, the criterion is Christological. Smith was essentially saying that Derrida and Caputo can do what they want, but unless they... Read more

Cornel West

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

I keep seeing Cornel West at AAR seminars. I recognize him from The Matrix Reloaded . I keep wanting to ask him what Keanu is REALLY like, but haven’t mustered the courage. Read more

Tabernacle in Exodus

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

Ross Blackburn, a grad student at St Andrews University, presented a good paper on the tabernacle in the context of Exodus. He sees the theological unity of Exodus contained in YHWH’s insistence on pursuing and defending His own honor not only to Israel but before the nations. The plagues are to show Pharaoh that he is Lord; Israel’s wilderness experience trains Israel to know that YHWH is Lord; the tabernacle is a continuing sign that YHWH is king over Israel... Read more

Grentz on Imago Dei

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

Stanley Grentz presented a paper on the imago Dei as a Christological title, and along the way offered some observations on the relation of anthropology and Christology. One of the most revealing things he said was that when imago Dei is confined to anthropology (as it often is in evangelical theology), we end up with an anthropologically controlled Christology rather than a Christologically controlled anthropology. We end up letting the first Adam serve as the model and standard of the... Read more

Franke on “Indirect Revelation”

Last updated on: November 20, 2003 at 10:37 am By Peter Leithart

John Franke’s ETS presentation on “indirect revelation” was revealing. Drawing explicitly from Barth, he argued that the concept of “indirect revelation” provided an outlook on revelation that was both faithful to the historic Christological formulas of the patristic period (God comes to us “veiled” in human form) and specifically the confessional tradition of the Reformed churches. To defend this concept, however, Franke accepted Barthian concepts far too uncritically and adopted what I regard as the worst part of Barth’s theology.... Read more

Franke on “Indirect Revelation”

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:42 pm By Peter Leithart

Hafemann on 2 Peter 2

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

Scot Hafemann did a paper on 2 Peter 2, focusing especially on Peter’s treatment of Noah and the flood narratives. He began by noting the odd direction of the argument in 2 Peter 2:1: Instead of saying that things happen in the present because they were determined or foreshadowed by the past, he does the opposite, arguing that there will be false teachers and as a result there were false prophets in Israel. From this he drew the conclusion that... Read more

Hays on Figural and Theological Interpretation

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

Richard Hays gave a fine defense of figural and theological interpretation of the OT at an ETS session. He argued that the NT writers read the OT in the light of the resurrection, and saw the resurrection of Christ as the climax of the history of Israel, a climax foreshadowed along the way in various ways. Several things were of particular note: 1) He compared liberal scholars to the Sadducees, and argued that both had problems because they are literalists.... Read more

Green on Scripture’s Audience

Last updated on: November 19, 2003 at 6:59 pm By Peter Leithart

Joel Green at ETS challenged historical-critical scholarship on the basis that the community addressed originally by Scripture is the same as the community now addressed by Scripture. We can distinguish between what it meant and what it means, but even when we do that, Green said, “we are not reading someone else’s mail.” Read more