Peter J. Leithart

Summary: Considering philosophical discussions of the being of God, turns to Genesis 1 which reveals the Triune Creator who speaks and sees, who loves and is good.

The challenge of this book for the person without a background in philosophy is to get past the first three chapters which explore questions of God’s being, self-existence, and simplicity, and what may be said of God, wrestling with the challenge of apophaticism, in which we can only say what God is not. There are questions of how God relates to the physical world and how God can be an unmoved mover and yet retain God’s simplicity. Along the way, Peter J. Leithart invokes Aquinas and Aristotle, Plato and Plotinus, Augustine and Bulgakov, among others. It’s challenging reading, and important for its exploration of discussions of the being and nature of God.

It also sets us up for the radical turn in the second half from the reasonings of pagan and Christian philosophers to the revelation of Genesis 1. We find here no discussions of the Absolute, the One, or Being. The first thing we learn of God is that God is almighty Creator. Scripture does not know of a God “without interplay with creatures, without a created playground” (p. 150). Creation reflects who God is from eternity. God’s transcendence is over creation, never apart from it. Unlike Greek philosophy, there is no God unrelated to creation.

Furthermore, Leithart asserts, against those who propose that the “we” of Genesis 1 is a heavenly council, that Genesis 1 reveals a Triune Creator. There is a harmonious unity, creating, calling by Word, and forming or hovering–Father, Son, and Spirit. In this, the life of God is revealed as “justice, holiness, wisdom, power, goodness, and truth, all actualized in the infinitely mobile, infinitely lively, inexhaustibly energetic life of triune love, a;; actualized in relation to a contingent creation” (p. 209).

What then do we say of God’s being, the question of ontology. We often speak of God as “I am” as one who is self sufficient, but utterly other. Yet a Triune Creator is both utterly sufficient, but also utterly related to creation, which reveals the self-giving love of the Triune loving Creator.

Genesis 1 reveals a God who speaks and sees. Leithart notes: “All created action, all moments and periods and bodies of time, all created experience is suspended between God’s saying and his seeing.” A staggering thought indeed–that all of our existence is encompassed and sustained and directed by God’s saying and seeing.

My experience of this book was to move from exasperation with my efforts to follow philosophical arguments to exultation in worship of the Triune Creator who speaks and sees all creation–and that so much may be found in Genesis 1 that is not mere polemical ammunition in origins debates.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.… (meer)

I generally love Peter Leithart's writing. This book screams "calling all scholars!" Much of it was over my head (obviously, not a scholar). But the portions that weren't, were stellar. If you read nothing else, read the last chapter. This paragraph was worth the book:

"Care of the hopeless is a work of the whole congregation. When we deny or minimize our neediness and dependency, we cruelly reinforce the despair of the mentally ill. They think their neediness is sub-human and feel they can't be members of the human race until they learn to help themselves. Maybe then, God will help them. That gets everything backwards. We the hopeful need to learn our need for help. We become sane when we freely admit our dependence. And we help to heal the hopeless when we welcome them into the community of the needy that is the human and Christian family."

As one who struggles to righteously hope out of a long history of failing to hope from fear of a sick heart full of dashed hopes - Leithart did an excellent job of training the reader to hope rightly - to place our hope where it can never be dashed. He understands the perspective of age. I'm 62, but "My future isn't just 20-30 years. I've got ages and ages ahead of me." We forget this. Thanks for the reminder, Peter.… (meer)

Wow, I was not impressed with this author at. all.

I originally chose the book, despite it's being a little bit "textbooky" because I was intrigued to see what the author had to say on the question of Jane Austen's true personal faith. You see, I just finished reading Cassandra and Jane by Jill Pitkeathley --- a fictional story in a biographical style that imagines the character of Jane as being much harsher than she is usually made out to be by real biographers. The author insinuates that Jane's faith was not genuine but was, instead, put on for the sake of the times and her family's situation. Other writers who have tried to make her out to be the ultimate Feminist have suggested the same. I would find it very refreshing to be assured that my favorite can be cynical, silly, sarcastic, and an authentic believer all at the same time---much as I am, myself!

From tiny irritations like claiming Austen's was the world of "hoop skirts" (out of fashion decades earlier unless you were visiting the Royals) to really sweeping generalizations (detailed below), I was immediately turned off by the author's lack of education. Big words does not a scholar make.

Leithart makes grand and arguable generalizations and assumptions about characters and plots, as well as the character of Austen herself, that I very much disagree with. A little thing is I think he's got the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth wrong---they both struggled with pride and prejudice, but I see Lizzie being the more prideful one and Darcy being the more prejudiced. A big thing is his view on what it means to be an effeminate male in the Austen era.

He says Edward Ferrars is "more than a little effeminate" because he is "painfully silent". WHAT?? And Tilney, as well, because he knows so much about fabrics? Does this man not realize who were the primary sellers of fabrics, designers of clothing, and clothiers of the day? MEN!

He was also way off on his understanding of the characters of Sense and Sensibility, Marianne and especially Willoughby's motives. The annoyances just go on and on ad nauseam to conclude with---no conclusion! Literally, the book just stops.

Please don't waste your time. A knowledgeable Janeite will be perturbed and a new one will be misled.… (meer)