Idolatry in the light

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:44 pm By Peter Leithart

Constantine’s legislation in the Theodosian Code includes several odd decrees that prohibit soothsayers and other magicians from “crossing the threshold” of a house under the pretext of friendship. Private soothsaying is prohibited. At the same time, Constantine says that soothsayers will be consulted if lightning strikes the palace, and also permits rural people to employ various sorts of traditional magic to bring rain and prevent hail. There are no doubt various pragmatic reasons for this, but in one decree, he... Read more

Yoder the Donatist?

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:47 pm By Peter Leithart

Yesterday, I summed up an article by Phillip Gray arguing that Yoder and Hauerwas end up Donatist, and also fail to account for the history of the church since they assume that the true church is pacifist. Yoder, though, isn’t as perfectionist as that. In When War Is Unjust , he not only commends just war theorists like John Courtney Murray and Paul Ramsey, but recognizes that the history of Christendom is seasoned with “real models of Christian statesmanship and... Read more

Rapacious hands

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:03 am By Peter Leithart

Constantine’s legislation can be brutal and his rhetoric scathing. Not infrequently, though, the invective and brutality are directed at the powerful in defense of the weak. He decreed that the hands of greedy civil servants and judges would be removed, but what’s most interesting is the crime that provokes this penalty: “ The rapacious hands of the apparitors shall immediately cease, they shall cease, I say; for if after due warning they do not cease, they shall be cut off... Read more

Proverbs 26:1-9

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:03 am By Peter Leithart

INTRODUCTION Many of the proverbs in chapter 26 share the basic form of a simile. Sometimes, as in verse 1, the simile is explicit in the Hebrew text (“like snow in summer” is a literal translation); at other times, the simile is not explicit in Hebrew but is implied in the structure of the verse (v. 7). The specific verses we are examining are framed by references to things that are “unfitting.” Honor is explicitly inappropriate to the fool (v.... Read more

Anti-anti-Constantinianism

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:46 pm By Peter Leithart

Phillip Gray scores some points against Yoder and Hauerwas in a 2008 article in Politics and Religion . He suggests, for example, that the category of “Constantinian” is too clunky to capture the differences among Christian thinkers. Various positions on church and state existed in the early church, including “Tertullian/Donatist separatism, the Eusebian acceptance of the prince as God’s vicar on Earth, the more nuanced position of St. Ambrose, and finally the two cities notion of St. Augustine.” Gray argues... Read more

Bridal food

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:48 pm By Peter Leithart

Some thoughts after a stimulating discussion of Ephesians 5 with my colleague Toby Sumpter. Toby pointed out that the description of marital life in Ephesians includes a number of sacrificial terms: Husbands are to imitate the Christ who “gave Himself,” who “washes” His bride, who presents her without spot or blemish, who sanctifies her. Christ gave Himself to prepare His bride as a suitable sacrifice. This offers some interesting angles on the sacrificial system. First, it supports Jim Jordan’s notion... Read more

God of Loopholes

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:42 pm By Peter Leithart

In an account of life under German communism, pastor Johannel Hamel noted the truth of Paul’s promise of a “way of escape”: “Time and again God creates loopholes, so to speak, open space in the midst of closed systems of unbelief and hatred of God. Hence the possibility is offered and realized for doing the good, reasonable, and well-pleasing, although these systems theoretically seem to leave no room for such action . . . . Where people take their place... Read more

Just War

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:45 pm By Peter Leithart

John Courtney Murray was a defender of the just war tradition, but recognized that it was more honored in breach than observance. In a 1959 article, he wrote: “The tendency to query the uses of the Catholic doctrine on war initially rises from the fact that it has for so long not been used, even by Catholics. That is, it has not been made the basis for a sound critique of public policies, and as a means for the formation... Read more

Deliverdict

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:53 pm By Peter Leithart

John Barach writes: “I’ve been working on Psalm 5 and happened to read Van Gemeren’s treatment of it in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary today. In connection with verse 10 (‘Declare them guilty’), Van Gemeren writes: “’ . . . the psalmist prays for their demise. The declaration of their ‘guilt’ also signifies the judgment of destruction. The phrase ‘declare them guilty’ (ha’asimem, ‘you destroy them,’ Dahood, Psalms, 1:35-36) calls on the Lord both to declare a guilty verdict and to... Read more

Engaging with Barth

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:36 pm By Peter Leithart

I’ve learned that Engaging with Barth: Contemporary Evangelical Critiques , a thoughtful evangelical critique of Barth, is now available inNorth America, published by T&T Clark. More information about the UK edition is available at the book’s website, www.engagingwithbarth.com . Read more