The Economist ‘s “Lexington” correspondent offers a cheer or two to the Tea Party movement. It starts snidely: “They are not French.” Snarky, but it has a serious point: For all the frothing attacks on the Tea Party from Democrats, none of them have barricaded streets or set fires in DC. They’re not French. More importantly: Instead of demonstrating on behalf of shorter working hours and more extensive benefits, the Tea Party wants less from the federal government. As Lexington... Read more
Israel worshiped the gods of Egypt while in Egypt (Joshua 24:14). What did that involve? As explained by Jan Assmann ( Of God and Gods: Egypt, Israel, and the Rise of Monotheism (George L. Mosse Series) ), it involved participation in the whole religio-political system of ancient Egypt. Much of Egyptian religion involved identification with a city or town, each of which, like the Greek city-states, had a resident patron deity. This was both a religious and a political identification:... Read more
Is the Reformation dead? It may be a surprising question to us, especially since we’re commemorating Reformation Day this morning. But it’s a question worth asking. When we assess Protestantism honestly, we find that there are good reasons to wonder. Over the past couple of centuries, many of the Protestant churches in Europe and the US have abandoned the Reformation faith in favor of a modernized form of Christianity, a heresy known as liberalism. Liberalism turns theology into anthropology, treats... Read more
Luther wrote: “The ‘righteousness of God’ . . . is the righteousness by which God is righteous, and we are righteous by the same righteousness, just as by the same word God makes us be and we indeed are what he is, so that we may be in him and his being may be our being.” Read more
Luther wrote: “The ‘righteousness of God’ . . . is the righteousness by which God is righteous, and we are righteous by the same righteousness, just as by the same word God makes us be and we indeed are what he is, so that we may be in him and his being may be our being.” Read more
Genesis 17 is chiastically organized, with internal chiasms spinning out of it. The overall chiasm is: A. Abe 99, v 1a B. Yahweh appears, v 1b C. El Shaddai: establish covenant, v 2 D. Abram falls on face, v 3a E. God speaks: changes Abe’s name, vv 3b-8 F. Circumcision, vv 9-14 E’. God speaks: changes Sarai’s name, vv 15-16 D’. Abraham falls on face and laughs, v 17 C’. God: covenant with Isaac, promises to Ishmael, vv 18-21 B’.... Read more
Abram builds altars all over the land (Genesis 12:7-8; 13:4, 18; 22:9), wherever Yahweh appears to him. But what does he do at those altars? He “calls upon the name of Yahweh” (12:8; 13:4). None of the normal terminology of sacrifice is used in these passages – no “offering” or “ascension” or “cause to go up.” Only calling on Yahweh. Abram is like a rebirth of the line of Seth (cf. 4:26). Abram’s only offering/ascension occurs in Genesis 22. Suddenly... Read more
Perry Robinson writes to correct my comments about Nestorian soteriology early this week: “Nestorius didn’t underwrite a synergistic soteriology in his Christology since he explicitly advocated a monothelite Christology. The divine used the human and produced a single appearance which was used by the divine will. See Cyril Hovorun, Will, Action and Freedom: Christological Controversies in the 7th Century, Brill, 2008.” He adds, “Nestorius kept the divine and human separate in terms of each hypostasis,that is essence, but the single... Read more
A few days ago I said that the flood was the first time flesh was cut. That is true with respect to the particular phrase “cut off flesh” (Genesis 9:11). Several readers have pointed out, though, that there are a couple of cutting episodes prior to the flood. Adam’s “flesh” is opened and closed so that Yahweh can build Eve from a rib, and animal flesh is implicitly cut in order to make robes for Adam and Eve. If we... Read more
First Things has a Reformation-Day article of mine up on their web site this weekend. Take a look: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2010/10/priesthood-of-believers Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In