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Winged

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Typically, wings in the Bible are appendages of birds (Genesis 1:21), so much so that “winged-thing” (substantive of kanaph) becomes a synonym for bird (cf. Genesis 7:14; bird is ‘oph). Bird wings are mentioned in the rite for the ascension offering from birds (Leviticus 1:17). The earth’s four corners are sometimes described as “wings” (Isaiah 11:12; 24:16; Ezekiel 7:2). Perhaps the world itself is being pictured as a four-winged flying thing. Human beings have “wings” when they put on clothes.... Read more

Serious Puns

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

According to Frederick Ahl (Metaformations, 18), we have an irrefutable syllogism to demonstrate that puns aren’t found in serious poetry like the Aeneid: “Vergil is a great poet. Puns are not the stuff of great poetry. Therefore Vergil cannot be using puns.” Except that Vergil seems to do just that, and so do many other ancient and early medieval writers. Cratylus notwithstanding, puns and other forms of wordplay, including etymological wordplay, were critical to ancient understandings of language, and how... Read more

Triune Chord

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s contribution to Trinity and Salvation is on the Trinity and music. Fitzgerald overstates when she called about “musical refutation” of heresy, but her analogies are illuminating. She points to chords as vestigiae Trinitatis: “Each note of the major triad has its own specific relationship with the other notes: The first and second note of the chord form a major third; the first and third note form a perfect fifth; the second and third note form a minor third. If... Read more

Will the Miracle Survive?

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Stephen Mansfield remembers what Kurdistan was like in the early 1990s: “To be among the Kurds in the northern Iraq of those days was to be in the middle of a civil war while the troops of a tyrant amassed on a nearby border. Economic sanctions added to the general miseries by making life disease-ridden and spake. Makeshift checkpoints punctuated cratered roads. So quickly could fighting erupt that men carried their Kalashnikov machine guns while strolling markets with their families.... Read more

Will the Miracle Survive?

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Stephen Mansfield remembers what Kurdistan was like in the early 1990s: “To be among the Kurds in the northern Iraq of those days was to be in the middle of a civil war while the troops of a tyrant amassed on a nearby border. Economic sanctions added to the general miseries by making life disease-ridden and spake. Makeshift checkpoints punctuated cratered roads. So quickly could fighting erupt that men carried their Kalashnikov machine guns while strolling markets with their families.... Read more

Libertarian Futures?

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Some Republicans have been saying that libertarianism is the wave of the GOP future, since it appeals to the next generation of voters. Whatever the merits or weaknesses of libertarianism as a political outlook, its political future is not as bright as some think. Jonathan Chait cites poll evidence that shows views of under-30s are hardly consistently libertarian: “voters under 30, who vote strongly Democratic, have strongly liberal views on most foreign-policy and social issues, as libertarians do. The crucial difference lies... Read more

Mother in Heaven

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

The Bible’s chapter breaks are often misleading. They can be worse. The chapter break between Revelation 11-12 obscures the scene almost completely. Unless we know where this takes place, we don’t know what’s taking place. At the end of chapter 11, the heavenly temple of God is opened , revealing the ark of the covenant (v. 19). We’re in the heavenly original of the Most Holy Place. Immediately, a great sign appears in heaven, a woman in labor, then another... Read more

Griper Laureate

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

“The world is going to hell in a hurry,” writes Charles Simic in his latest outburst. “At my age, I ought to be used to it, but I’m not.” It’s going to hell because “The innocent get slaughtered and someone makes up excuses.” And because of the thousands held in our prisons. And because we kill innocents out of sheer malice. And because of our amnesia: “For people with long memories, this is not just infuriating but also terrifying.” For Simic... Read more

Griper Laureate

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

“The world is going to hell in a hurry,” writes Charles Simic in his latest outburst. “At my age, I ought to be used to it, but I’m not.” It’s going to hell because “The innocent get slaughtered and someone makes up excuses.” And because of the thousands held in our prisons. And because we kill innocents out of sheer malice. And because of our amnesia: “For people with long memories, this is not just infuriating but also terrifying.” For Simic... Read more

Triple Threat

Last updated on: August 11, 2014 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

The dragon mounts three attacks on the woman (Revelation 12). First, he stands ready to attack the laboring woman and gobble up her child (vv. 1-4). The child is snatched away to heaven and the woman flees to the wilderness. Here the dragon is taking the role of Herod, who sought to wipe out the threat from Jesus at the outset. Second, he is thrown from heaven and mounts a direct attack on the child-less woman (vv. 13-14). Again she... Read more

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