Jesus threatens to throw the self-appointed prophetess Jezebel onto a bed (Revelation 3:22). The threat carries multiple resonances. The original Jezebel died by being thrown from a window to the ground in front of conquering Jehu. Jesus is the new Jehu throwing Jezebel to her deathbed. It’s fitting that she’s thrown into a bed with all those who commit adultery with her; her death completes the ménage a trois, quatre, plus en plus that was her life.The bed is the place... Read more
Ronald Osborn’s Death Before the Fall is two books in one, as the subtitle suggests: “Biblical Literalism and the Problem of Animal Suffering.” Part of the book is a critique of “literalism,” especially as expressed in young-earth creationism, the other part is an exegetical defense of the notion that animal death was part of the original creation and an attempt to provide a theodicy regarding animal mortality (as Osborn says, a neglected topic). I didn’t care much for Osborn’s treatment of... Read more
Gall again, reporting on Pakistan’s cozy relationship with bin Laden: She found evidence of “regular correspondence between Bin Laden and a string of militant leaders who must have known he was living in Pakistan, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a pro-Kashmiri group that has also been active in Afghanistan, and Mullah Omar of the Taliban. Saeed and Omar are two of the ISI’s most important and loyal militant leaders. Both are protected by the agency. Both cooperate closely with... Read more
Carlotta Gall spent 12 years in Afghanistan, and spent much of her time investigating the sources of the Taliban resurgence. She traced it back to Pakistan, and discovered that the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI) was secretly supportive of both the Taliban and al Quaeda. Gall writes, “The Pakistani government, under President Pervez Musharraf and his intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was maintaining and protecting the Taliban, both to control the many groups of militants now lodged in the country and... Read more
Latin America was supposed to become Protestant by now. In one of the major non-developments of the past quarter-century, it didn’t. Catholics didn’t take predictions of a Protestant Latin America lightly, and responded with renewal efforts of their own. Rodney Stark (Triumph of Christianity) highlights the role of competition in galvanizing Catholics, and also points to the effect of the Catholic Carismatic Renewal movement (CCR), which accomplished a renewal that Liberation Theology never delivered: “Often described as Catholic Pentecostalism, CCR... Read more
With characteristic gleeful verve, Rodney Stark assaults secularization theory in his Triumph of Christianity. Secularization theory revived, he says, a charge brought against religious pluralism by “monopoly religions: that disputes among religious groups undermine the credibility of all” (357). But people kept being religious, even in pluralistic settings. Secularization theory responds with a Harumph, arguing that the religions that survive in pluralism are cheap imitations of the old time religion. Stark refutes by showing that the growing religions in America are... Read more
Every morning Venus lights up in the sky before the sun rises – a speck of light before the sun. Jesus is the morning star (Revelation 22:16), who shines before the light of the Father is revealed. Jesus is the morning star that announces a day where there will be no night, a day with no Sun except for the Lord God (22:5). So the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament His handiwork. Read more
Revelation 3:1-2 is organized in a new chiasm: A. Thus saith He who has seven Spirits, even the seven stars B. I know your deeds (erga) C. You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead D. Wake up and strength the remainder C’. Which is about to die B.’ for I have not found your deeds (erga) completed A’. In the sight (enopion) of My God. The value of seeing this structure lies in the way... Read more
Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10). That means He cares for His flock, leading them to pasture and water (Psalm 23; 1 Peter 5:2; Revelation 7:17). The Good Shepherd is a gentle, nurturing shepherd. Also a shattering shepherd. Jesus shepherds (poimaino) with an iron rod, suitable for smashing and breaking things (Revelation 2:27-8; 12:5; 19:15; cf. Psalm 2:9, and also 3:7; 58:6; 68:21, 23; 110:5). People are made of clay; nations are vessels of molded and fired clay, clay... Read more
Carol Wilson’s For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Foodis a well-researched and illuminating piece of social-scientific scholarship on the New Testament. Picking up on recent work that places Matthew’s gospel in a Greco-Roman imperial context (e.g., Warren Carter), Wilson focuses narrowly on access to food. How did people get their food? What inhibited their access? How does the gospel of Matthew respond to those problems? Food shortages could occur, obviously, because of natural disasters, but Wilson shows that they also... Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In