Between Babel and Beast
(America and Empires in Biblical Perspective)

The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan

Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)

Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)

The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
If you stop breathing for a few minutes, you’ll die. If you don’t eat or drink for a time, you’ll die. You are porous. Bits of the world go in and out of you all the time. If they stop, you can’t last long.
This physical fact is a clue to what it means to be human. We are dependent creatures ultimately dependent on God. Man does not live by bread alone. We live only because the Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, continuously gives life.
It’s humbling to realize we need something outside us to stay alive. But it it’s also our glory, a trace of God’s own life in us.
God doesn’t depend on anything outside Himself, but the Persons of the Trinity are dependent on one another. The Father is Father only because He has a Son, the Son is Son because of the Father. Both live by the eternal breath of the Spirit, who proceeds dependently from the Father and Son.
Our original sin is pride. We think and act as if our ideal state is to be free from God and one another. Husbands act as if they don’t need wives; children think they don’t need parents; families withdraw into isolated compounds where they believe they can be truly free. In all this, we refuse to acknowledge we are hungry beings who live by bread from the hand of God. We deny our glory, that are porous creatures made in the image of a porous God.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 6:01 am
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