Continuing Incarnation?

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:51 pm By Peter Leithart

In his 1987 book on Thomas’s ecclesiology, George Sabra argues that Thomas does not teach that the church is a continuing incarnation. He definitely rejects any notion that the church is deified. If the notion of “continuing incarnation” simply means that the church continues the work of the incarnation, it comes closer to Thomas. But even here, Sabra says, Thomas is too conscious of the once-for-all character of Jesus’ work to use language of continuation or prolongation. Instead, he uses... Read more

Congar on Thomas

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:49 pm By Peter Leithart

Thomas wrote no treatise on the church, but Yves Congar, among others, insisted that the whole second part of the Summa is about ecclesiology. Thomas is telling a story of exodus and return, and the second part of his treatise is about the return effected by Christ and worked out in the church. Man, Thomas says, is created for beatitude; beatitude is the final end, the purpose for which God created man. Man exists for fellowship with God, and this... Read more

Ugly comedy

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:50 pm By Peter Leithart

In the Poetics , Aristotle gives a brief description of the character and history of comedy: ” Comedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters of a lower type – not, however, in the full sense of the word bad, the ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly. It consists in some defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive. To take an obvious example, the comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does not imply... Read more

Sermon Outline, Second Sunday after Epiphany

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:01 am By Peter Leithart

INTRODUCTION In the final chapter of his prophecy, Micah speaks in the first person, as the representative Israelite. In the midst of social chaos, he waits on Yahweh to show His righteousness. Someday, the Lord who treads on Judah’s high places (1:3) will tread her iniquities and cast them into the sea (7:19). THE TEXT “Woe is me! For I am like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes; there is no cluster to eat of... Read more

Triple Guide

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:50 pm By Peter Leithart

In Micah 6:4, Yahweh reminds Judah, “I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” The “send before” reminds us of Yahweh’s promise to send His angel before Israel as they traveled through the wilderness and into the land. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam are human analogues to the Angel of Yahweh. The three siblings also represent a triple office: Moses the lawgiver and final ruler, a sort of king of Israel; Aaron the priest; Miriam the prophetess. The three siblings also... Read more

Eucharistic meditation, Sunday after Epiphany

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:39 pm By Peter Leithart

Micah 6:5: My people, remember now . . . from Shittim to Gilgal, in order that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh. We’ve seen this morning that Micah is presenting the covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel and Judah. He is bringing Yahweh’s indictment, his “case” against Israel. And part of that case is a reminder of what the Lord has done for Israel in the past. He brought them up from Egypt, led them through the... Read more

Exhortation, Sunday after Epiphany

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:41 pm By Peter Leithart

Last Sunday was the Christian feast of Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the magi to worship Jesus. The word “epiphany” means “manifestation,” and the theme of this season is Jesus’ manifestation to the world. Jesus comes as the seed of Abraham, but He also comes, as Simeon said, as a “light of revelation to the Gentiles.” Our readings during this season focus on the various manifestations of Jesus as the King of the Gentiles – to the wise men,... Read more

Mathematical theists

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:10 am By Peter Leithart

According to a National Academy of Sciences survey, twice as many mathematicians believe in God as biologists. And a large proportion of mathematicians are self-conscious Platonists. Read more

Neocons and Jews

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:09 am By Peter Leithart

In his recent history of neoconservatism, Jacob Heilbrun, a one-time neocon himself, points out that neoconservatism is not only a movement populated by Jews but one whose main agenda and interests are influenced deeply by Judaism. In the NYT book review, Timothy Noah says, in part: “To be neoconservative is to bear almost daily witness to the resurrection of Adolf Hitler. ‘Truly Hitlerian,’ the Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer pronounced Saddam Hussein’s saber-rattling before Iraq invaded Kuwait. Three days after... Read more

Spirit of promise

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

In Luke 24:49, Jesus says that the disciples should expect the coming of the promise of the Father. This is clearly a reference to the Holy Spirit, but the terminology is interesting. Augustine said that the Spirit is both “Gift” and “Love,” and Luke 24 adds “Promise.” And since it’s the Spirit as Gift and Love that binds the Father and Son, so it is the Spirit of promise who maintains the Father and Son in covenant loyalty. And since... Read more