Conformist Subversives

Last updated on: September 16, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

To secular analysts, “Progressive Pentecostals” seem naively apolitical. In their study of Global Pentecostalism, Donald Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori agree that the “integral” or “holistic” Pentecostals that they study are not social gospellers or liberation theologians. They don’t aim to “reform social structures or challenge government policies.” They are content to “build from the ground up an alternative social reality.” In fact, “Marxist commentators will see this as hopelessly naive because Progressive Pentecostals in most cases actually embrace capitalism and attempt... Read more

Phone Booth

Last updated on: September 16, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Way out in the Mojave desert is a phone booth. Some years ago, a resident of LA published a picture, which inspired Godfrey Daniels to start calling the phone. He was prepared to keep calling for years until someone picked up. A month later, Lorene Aiken, who worked at the cinder minds nearby, answered the phone and chatted with Daniels for a few minutes. Daniels took a pilgrimage to see the phone booth, and designed a web site in its... Read more

Eucharist, Evangelical and Catholic

Last updated on: September 16, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Theodore Beza’s opening speech at the Colloquy of Poissy was a model of irenic Protestantism (Nugent, Ecumenism is the Age of the Reformation). He stressed the creedal commonalities of Rome and the Reformed, and argued that the differences were “matters of interpretation” and unnecessary accretions” (97). As Nugent says, his “address was conspicuously free of scurrilous attack on the Papacy, and he avoided more than an oblique reference to the labyrinthine doctrine of predestination. Presumably these questions could wait. . .... Read more

Chiasm in Malachi 1

Last updated on: September 16, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

In a recent sermon, Pastor Jimmy Gill of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, pointed to the chiastic structure of Malachi 1:6-14, neatly marked by a sevenfold repetition of the phrase “says Yahweh of hosts.” A. Priests dishonor Yahweh their Father, 1:6a B. Blemished offerings on my altar, 1:6b-8 C. Will God be gracious to those who offer bad sacrifices, 1:9 D. Stop kindling fire on my altar, 1:10 C’. My name will be great among Gentiles; incense offered in every place,... Read more

Shepherding by Faith

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

It doesn’t take long for a pastor to discover the discrepancy between need and resources in his ministry. Needs are infinite, or seem to be so. The pastor’s resources of time, energy, and skill are radically limited. It’s a dilemma, and one ripe for frustration, guilt, and burn-out. The pastor’s most besetting temptations are anxiety and pride. Anxiety determines the lives of many pastors. A family blows up over here; another member is terminally ill; the finances are looking weak:... Read more

Irenicism in the Reformation

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

“Perhaps irenicism is the finest synthesis of Renaissance and Reformation,” writes Donald Nugent in his 1974 monograph on the Colloquy of Poissy, Ecumenism in the Age of the Reformation (4). The irenicists had roots in the late medieval conciliarism and in Cusa’s efforts to unite contraries, but it was humanism that gave it its particular stamp: “Humanism added a distinctive contribution, with its general preference for the dialogue form, the second person, and persuasion, in distinction to the rather ponderous school... Read more

Deuteronomic Penalties

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Deuteronomy 25 begins like a law-and-order text. Judges are to condemn the wicked and justify the innocent. Convicted criminals are beaten, and beaten publicly “in the presence” of the judge, beaten as much as his crime deserves (v. 2). Verse 3 takes a slight turn: It places a limit on the number of times a convicted man can be beaten: “He may be beaten forty times but no more.” That’s a lot of beating, but it’s still a limit. The... Read more

Exit and Voice

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

What do people do when social institutions go wrong? Albert Hirschman (Exit, Voice, and Loyalty) argues that there are two main alternatives: One withdraws (exit) or one speaks out (voice). He admits that these categories sound “suspiciously neat,” but defends them because they “reflect a more fundamental schism: that between economics and politics.” Economics is governed by exit. Customers who aren’t satisfied stop buying. Hirschman says, “This is the sort of mechanism economics thrives on. It is neat—one either exits... Read more

The Power of Public Insult

Last updated on: September 14, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Donald Trump calls Jeb Bush a “nice” but “low energy” man. Whatever Bush does, Trump wins. Suppose Bush tries to get more energetic. That proves Trump was right, because Bush had to step it up. More, it keeps Trump in control, because Bush is dancing (more energetically) to Trump’s tune. Suppose Bush ignores the insults and keeps steady as she goes. It’ll be hard for people to avoid assessing Bush by Trump’s standard. “Yeah, he is kinda passive, isn’t he?”... Read more