Pedagogy of Weakness

Last updated on: November 4, 2011 at 1:17 pm By Peter Leithart

In her fascinating In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth , Tikva Frymer-Kensky argues that the Bible does not have any notion of “feminine wiles”: “There is no woman’s toolkit.” Men and women use the rhetoric of guilt, men as well as women use deception when they are in vulnerable positions. As Frymer-Kensky puts it, “There are only the strategies that are used along the various axes of power: women-man; men-men of... Read more

Intrusive Others

Last updated on: November 4, 2011 at 1:07 pm By Peter Leithart

Some reflections on the metaphysics and politics of marriage and pornography at http://www.firstthings.com/ Read more

Jacob’s Nostos

Last updated on: October 31, 2011 at 2:37 pm By Peter Leithart

Gordon again, on Jacob’s return to Bethel (Genesis 35) and the command to change garments: “Jacob’s return to Bethel is an example of the homecoming, or nostos , motif common in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the Odyssey, Odysseus changes his clothes upon returning home to Ithaca; Sinuhe does likewise in the Egyptian tale bearing his name; and Gilgamesh also changes his clothes upon returning to his hom in Uruk . . . . this small detail in the story... Read more

Jacob’s Nostos

Last updated on: October 31, 2011 at 2:37 pm By Peter Leithart

Laban’s Trick

Last updated on: October 31, 2011 at 2:29 pm By Peter Leithart

According to Cyrus Gordon ( The Bible and the Ancient Near East (Revised Edition) ), Laban’s trick of Jacob – Leah for Rachel – put Jacob in an even more vulnerable position than is usually noticed. In one of the Nuzu tablets, Gordon finds “a combination adoption-marriage contract” that is relevant to the Jacob story: “In this tablet, a man named Wullu agrees to labor for a man named Nashwi, and in exchange Naswi gives his daughter to Wullu. Furthermore,... Read more

Laban’s Trick

Last updated on: October 31, 2011 at 2:29 pm By Peter Leithart

Eucharistic meditation

Last updated on: October 30, 2011 at 5:57 am By Peter Leithart

2 Corinthians 5:16: From now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. It’s not too much to say that the truth expressed in our sermon text is the heart of Calvin’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper. In his mind, the Roman Catholic Church tried to know Christ according to the flesh. They wanted to have Christ, flesh and blood, on... Read more

Exhortation

Last updated on: October 30, 2011 at 5:48 am By Peter Leithart

“From now on,” Paul says in today’s sermon text, “we know no man according to the flesh.” Paul defends his ministry against Corinthians who find him unimpressive and weak. Paul understands this fleshly perspective because he once shared it. Before Jesus revealed His glory, Paul saw Jesus Himself as a pathetic failure. In that moment on the Damascus road, everything changed. Everything . Now Paul knew that if Christ died for all, then all died. Now Paul knew that flesh... Read more

Dead to Flesh

Last updated on: October 30, 2011 at 5:16 am By Peter Leithart

What keeps us from doing as we ought? Peer pressure, sloth, fear, honor, desire to be liked, our own wants, wealth, selfishness. Paul’s word for this is “flesh.” “Flesh” is not a bad person living inside me. “Flesh” names a social and political order, also, inevitably, an accompanying order of soul. But Jesus killed flesh on the cross. Jesus died to liberate us from this perverse and perverting order that keeps us from living not for ourselves but for Him.... Read more

Human sacrifice

Last updated on: October 29, 2011 at 8:49 pm By Peter Leithart

You can feel the outrage when David Carrasco ( City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization ) observes, “all significant theories of ritual sacrifice, from Robertson Smith through Hubert and Mauss, Rene Girard, Walter Burkert, Adoph Jensen, and J.Z. Smtih, completely ignored the most thorough record of real, historical human sacrifice while favoring either distant reports of animals sacrifices or literary sacrifices from Western Classics! Why does the physical, pictorial, ethno-historical, and sometimes eyewitness... Read more