Divine Imperator

Last updated on: June 25, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

To our modern democratic ear, “King of kings, Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16) sounds redundant. It’s not. The two superlatives are drawn from quite different contexts. Yahweh is “Lord of lords” (Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 136:3). But the only figures described as “king of kings” in the Hebrew Bible are human beings – Gentile emperor like Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:12) and Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 26:7; Daniel 2:37). Ancient emperors conquered kings, and so became king over kings. To say... Read more

Nation of Laws?

Last updated on: June 24, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

William Stuntz’s Collapse of American Criminal Justice is as relentless as a prosecutor’s closing. His main charge is that American criminal justice has become a preserve of arbitrary discretionary power. Speed limits offer a simple opening example. Everyone knows that the posted speed limits are not the real speed limits. The speed limit is actually determined by “whatever police force patrols the relevant road. Law enforcers—state troopers and local cops—define the laws they enforce” (3). That allows cops to be “selectively severe”... Read more

Fundamentalism and Modernism

Last updated on: June 24, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Nancy Ammerman briefly examines the “shifting terrain” at the close of her essay in Denominationalism. Choice seems to have taken over the religious landscape, displacing ethnic associations, family and upbringing. Many change denominations during their lifetimes; fewer think it important to marry within their denominations. Congregations function independently of the head office, gathering educational, liturgical, musical, and other resources from the potluck of consumer religion. There is something holding denominations together, though: Money. “In the most concrete of terms, if the... Read more

Denomination—Creed, Organization, Culture

Last updated on: June 24, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Nancy Ammerman’s contribution to Denominationalism is outstanding. She asks what we’re studying when we study denominations, and she comes up with three answers: A group of Christian communities defined by a common set of beliefs and practices; an organization; and a cultural profile (evident, for instance, in Episcopalian jokes). All are part of the reality of the denomination’s life and history. Officials within a denomination often focus on the first definition: “Those who occupy pulpits, teach in the seminaries, and write adult... Read more

Sacrificing Babylon

Last updated on: June 24, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

The ten horns join with the beast in slaughtering the harlot city Babylon. It’s a macabre scene, marked by five relentless verbs – hate, desolate, make naked, eat, burn – and by a bizarre sequence of actions. It’s a sacrificial sequence. An ascension offering (Leviticus 1) was prepared for offering by being skinned. Then its flesh was burned. Though it is not specified that other offerings were skinned, many would have involved both burning and eating. Yahweh’s portion was always... Read more

Lacan v. Foucault

Last updated on: June 23, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Joan Copjec’s 1994 Read My Desire (recently reprinted by Verso) sets Lacan against the historicists, specifically against Foucault. But also, along the way, Lacan against the structuralists. It’s dense going, as one might expect. Early on, Copjec isolates the trouble with Foucault. He “realizes the necessity of conceiving the mode of a regime of power’s institution,” carrying out his genealogical program,” but “he cannot avail himself of the means of doing so and thus, by default, ends up limiting that regime... Read more

Open Heart

Last updated on: June 23, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Paul opens his mouth wide (anoigo) to speak to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 6:11), and his open mouth expresses the openness of his heart (he kardia hemon peplatuntai). He wants the Corinthians to respond by opening themselves up just as wide (v. 13), so that there is a gift exchange of mutual openness. He worries that the Corinthians have restrained their affection toward him, and he denies that he’s the cause of that restraint (v. 12). Paul’s open-heartedness suggests a... Read more

Culture War in the Churches

Last updated on: June 23, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Battles between liberals/progressive and conservatives have broken out in many denominations, from Missouri Synod Lutherans to Southern Baptists, and they are still going on in the Episcopal and Presbyterian and other churches. Some have suggested that this internecine warfare is the cause of the decline of denominational identity, loyalty, and resources. Russell Richey suggests that this assessment may mistake symptom for cause: “Might the cleavage and the warfare be more symptom than problem, more effect than cause? Might the problem,... Read more

Ten Horns v. One Whore

Last updated on: June 23, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

An angel unravels the mystery of Babylon the harlot and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns. Most of what the angel says has to do with the beast, first explaining the beast (v. 8), then its seven heads (vv. 9-11), then its horns (vv. 12-18). The horn section is arranged in a parallel pattern: A. Ten horns are ten kings, authority with beast, v. 12. B. They have a single purpose, v. 13a. C. They give power... Read more

Why Literature Matters

Last updated on: June 22, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Glenn C. Arbery is a literature professor, and he knows his limits. Literature professors can’t bestow importance on great literature, writes Arbery (Why Literature Matters). What they are qualified to do, he says, is to bestow honor, “because meaningful praise has to come from those who know the excellences of things” (xiii). Arbery’s book is a beautifully written, entertaining book that bestows honor on the excellences of literature, and also bestows opprobrium where it’s deserved. He doesn’t have much use for... Read more