Every year, one of my students presents on a section of Calvin’s Antidote to the Council of Trent , and I’m impressed again with how Calvin responds to Trent’s claims about baptism. The first decree of the fifth session includes this statement: “Whosoever asserts that this sin of Adam, which is one by origin, and which transfused, by propagation, not by imitation, is proper to each individual, is taken away either by the power of human nature or by some... Read more
Nobody I’ve read much likes Salman Rushdie’s third-person memoir, Joseph Anton: A Memoir , because nobody much likes the author. Zoe Heller writes the following in the NYRB : “A man living under threat of death for nine years is not to be blamed for occasionally characterizing his plight in grandiloquent terms. But one would hope that when recollecting his emotions in freedom and safety, he might bring some ironic detachment to bear on his own bombast. Hindsight, alas, has... Read more
Naked and “unaccommodated” on a storm-shaken heath, Lear comes to see his failures as a king: “Poor naked wretches, whereso’er you are, / That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, / How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, / Your loop’d and window’d raggedness, defend you / From seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en / Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp; / Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, / That thou mayst shake... Read more
In a 2003 article in Perspectives in Religious Studies , Jason Whitlark gives this sharp summary of the classical Greek linkage between charis (grace) and reciprocity: “(1) Charis’s contextual environment was one of reciprocity, not only among humans but also with the gods. (2) Charis was often merited by the character and achievements of an individual. (3) Unreciprocated charis usually resulted in retribution and dissolution of the relationship. (4) Consequently, the giving of charis created indebtedness in the recipient, and... Read more
At the beginning of his treatise on sacrifice, Lucian satirizes a commercialized view of religious rites: “With the Gods, clearly, nothing goes for nothing. Each blessing has its price. Health is to be had, say, for a calf; wealth, for a couple of yoke of oxen; a kingdom, for a hecatomb. A safe conduct from Troy to Pylos has fetched as much as nine bulls, and a passage from Aulis to Troy has been quoted at a princess. For six... Read more
Tri-City Covenant Church in Somersworth, New Hampshire has been blessed throughout her forty year history by the support and encouragement of the leadership of Trinity Institute. The teaching ministries of the Trinity ministers have provided foundational Biblical teaching to our church and we look forward to supporting this new consolidated effort to maximize the teaching ministries of Peter Leithart, Jim Jordan, Jeff Meyers, Rick Bledsoe, Rich Lusk, and others. Tom Clark, Pastor, Tri-City Covenant Church Read more
What is Jesus announcing when He announces the coming of the kingdom of God? It’s hard to come up with a concrete answer, an answer that keeps its feet on the ground. Let me propose: The kingdom of God is a new pattern of giving and gratitude, of sharing and reciprocity, that at the same time fulfills the pattern of the Torah. The kingdom is what Milbank calls “purified gift exchange.” So: We know the kingdom has come when: (more…) Read more
For aspiring writers, I offer five key stages of writing a book. My plan applies best to non-fiction. Fiction, I’m sure, has its own rhythms. Stage 1: Ambition. You want to write the definitive yet wildly popular book about everything. This stage is marked by long periods of dreamy reflection, mental composition of a Pulitzer acceptance speech, decisions about which talk shows to turn down (the key question: Colbert or Stewart?), scanning the web for first class tickets to Cancun... Read more
Writing about the church of England’s rejection of female bishops in The New Yorker , Jane Kramer notes that “there are already calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England.” She doesn’t see that as a realistic possibility, but does think that there will be consequences: “there is some chance that its bishops will be asked to leave the House of Lords, at least until the Church accepts its obligations under the country’s anti-discrimination laws. The E.U. will certainly... Read more
“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him,” Job says (13:15). But hope is not inconsistent with complaint. In hope, “I will argue my ways to His face,” he immediately adds. Job argues with the Lord not in spite of hope, but because of hope. He’s like an attorney whose dream in life is to make an appearance before SCOTUS. That’s remarkable enough, but then Job adds (v. 16): “This will be my salvation” ( hu-li lishuah ). That... Read more
Leithart
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