A student once called me "vaguely pagan," which I did NOT appreciate. However. While I've shared several epigrams from Book 1 of the Greek Anthology here, today I give to you an epigram from Book 10--and, unlike the others, this one comes from a pagan, not a...
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“The Devil Is Not Dead”: Luther on the Necessity of Galatians (Updated)
Last time, we looked at a comment Luther makes in his preface to the 1535 Galatians commentary. Below, as he warms up for the commentary itself, he explains why he is commenting on Galatians again, since he had already done so in 1519. Significantly, the reason is not...
From Faith to Faith: Exitus-Reditus in Luther’s Galatians Preface
Martin Luther begins the preface to his 1535 Galatians commentary by saying, more or less, "Wow, I cannot BELIEVE how verbose I was in the lectures that form the basis for this commentary. Like, way over the top; SOMEBODY SHUT ME UP!" Maybe they've been heavily...
The Soul’s Bloody Doorposts: A Greek Epigram on the Passover
I haven't posted a verse translation On Here in a while (since April 25th, in fact), and am trying to get back into it. So I have one for today, again from the first book of the Greek Anthology (1.57). The poem is a nice example of figural reading, taking the...
Scrutinize Majesty and Be Crushed by Glory: Reason and the Trinity
Yesterday was the Feast of the Trinity, for which the traditional Gospel text comes from John 3:1-15. For this post, I've translated a brief passage from Niels Hemmingsen's Postil sermon on this text that, in the course of discussing the divine Persons, deals with the...
Philosophenphilosophie und Schulphilosophie
In "The University Philosopher in Early Modern Germany," Ian Hunter draws his readers' attention to Paul Richard Blum's useful distinction for analyzing the various philosophical cultures of early modern Europe, viz. the distinction between Philosophenphilosophie and...
The Difference Theology Makes (for Philosophy)
With apologies for the, er, radio? silence here recently, I'm just popping back in for a quick quotation from Günter Frank on the relation of philosophy and theology in Philip Melanchthon's ethics. Nevertheless, both these concepts [about practical philsosophy] [i.e.,...
“You Shall Not Murder”: Johannes Brenz on the Killing of Children
Abortion--which is a euphemism for "killing one's own offspring"--has been in the news again, and with it the usual moral confusions, including among Christians. Thus one learns that one must support a litany of government services if one is really to be "pro-life."...
“Unwound My Wounded Soul”: An Epigram on the Crucifixion
It's Monday, and I have a new epigram to share. Last time, we had a version of Greek Anthology 1.53 on the Passover. This time, I present to you Greek Anthology 1.54 on the Crucifixion. It would have been nice to have this up on Good Friday, of course; but, on the...
“Have Mercy on Us, You Who Alone Have Mercy”
For Good Friday, I'd like to share with you a meditation from Johann Gerhard on Christ's Passion and the use it can serve for provoking repentance in us. Below is the second of Gerhard's Meditationes sacrae (Sacred Meditations), originally written in Latin. A previous...