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Catholic Protestantism

Last updated on: June 11, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

In a 1979 article in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Russell Richey highlighted what he considered an overlooked source for the denominational system of American Protestantism. That organization of religious groups is typically seen as the product of theories of toleration. Richey argues that “the Puritans and Evangelicals who advocated indulgence and sought toleration were not the sole architects of the denominational theory of the church. Of great importance also was the intellectual contribution of Latitudinarians and Rationalists who advocated... Read more

Keeping the Faith

Last updated on: June 11, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

The angelic announcements of Revelation 14:6–11 are an encouragement to the saints to remain steadfast. “Here is the perseverance of the saints,” John writes (v. 12). Then he adds the defining qualities of the saints: “those who guard the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (ten pistin Iesou).” Pauline debates about pistis with the genitive rear up. Do the saints keep their faith in Jesus? Or do they somehow keep the faith that Jesus Himself exercised or performed?... Read more

Semper reformanda

Last updated on: June 10, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

In his contribution to Denominationalism, Winthrop Hudson suggests that one of the principles of English Independent ecclesiology was the refusal to “make our present judgment and practice a binding law unto ourselves for the future” (25). It’s a stance based on a recognition of fallibility and proneness to sin. In the words of a work called “An Apologetical Narration,” written by dissenters from the Westminster Assembly, “we had too great an instance of our own frailty in the former way of... Read more

Vine of the Land

Last updated on: June 10, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Revelation 14 ends with a harvest scene. First grain is harvested by the son of man, then grapes are gathered by an angel with a sickle (vv. 17-19a). Three parts of the grape plant are mentioned: The clusters (botruos) of the vine (ampelos) and the individual grapes (staphule)_ Because the individual grapes are ripe, the clusters can be gathered in. There is only one vine. Both times ampelos is used, it’s in the singular. There are multiple clusters on a... Read more

Transcending Agricultural Time

Last updated on: June 10, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

We live in unnatural times because of our unnatural time. We can eat foods produced on the other side of the globe. We can eat fruit out of season, partly because the fruit is in season somewhere and partly because of modern technologies of preservation. We seem to have detached ourselves from the agricultural year, and we seem to enjoy our power to do so. Should we enjoy it? Is it a healthy thing for us to transcend the cycles... Read more

Denominations in Time

Last updated on: June 10, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

In a 2005 piece in Word & World, Russell Richey argues that denominationalism in the US has passed through several stages of development. Though denominationalism always exists in situations of religious pluralism and is always (like the political party, the free press and free enterprise) a “creature of modernity,” it has not always taken the same form. Richey writes, “First, denominations and denominationalism shift gradually from strategies of expansiveness to efforts at consolidation. Second, the separate cyclical phases yield distinct... Read more

Tale of Two Sacrifices

Last updated on: June 10, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

The 144,000 martyrs of Revelation 14 are prepared for self-sacrifice. They are the firstfruits harvested in death. They offer their blood on the altar of the world, and ascend like smoke beyond the firmament. Their enemies, those who worship the beast, are also sacrifices. Worshiping the beast ultimately leads to drinking the fiery wrath of God, burning in fire and brimstone, with smoke rising. Revelation 14:11 uses typical sacrificial terminology (day and night; perpetual) to describe them. Self-sacrifice seems inescapable... Read more

Sources of Schism

Last updated on: June 9, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

In a study of American Protestant schisms between 1890 and 1990, John Sutten and Mark Chaves claim that churches don’t divide for purely doctrinal reasons, but rather “in response to attempts by denominational elites to achieve organizational consolidation” (171). The 1848 schism within the Plymouth Brethren, for instance, was about open communion, but Sutten and Chaves argue that “this issue was inextricably linked with the question of whether there would be more centralized control over this religious matter. . . .... Read more

Notes Toward a Johannine Theory of Labor

Last updated on: June 9, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Jesus tells His disciples that they are being sent into a field to harvest where they had not sown or labored. “One sows, and another reaps” (John 4:35-38). It’s a principle of ministry: Ministry starts in the middle. Even in a fresh mission field, the missionary doesn’t enter a place that is without God’s witness. God has not left them without a witness. He has already been at work. In many places, other missionaries have done their labor, and new... Read more

On Subjects and Objects

Last updated on: June 9, 2015 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

“I believe in subjects and objects,” writes David Martin at the outset of his Future of Christianity (4). He illustrates with a sociological example: He believes in “religious visions of the world to come and the objective status of the dynamics of social and political action.” Martin intends to resist the twin reductionisms of subjectivism and objectivism, the notion that social life is all about unconstrained human choices, or the belief that human action is determined by external social realities. He’s... Read more

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