Best Selling Books by Peter J. Leithart

The debate in many Reformed circles over worship music is only a small part of the larger question of Reformed liturgics. And dancing. All sides admit that the New Testament offers relatively little instruction on liturgy, and so the debate over the regulative principle continues with apparently little hope for resolution. In this study, Peter Leithart''s key insight reveals a prominent scriptural example of a liturgy that interprets God''s commands for worship in ways far more biblically grounded than traditional regulativism allows. King David''s tabernacle worship becomes a rich story, not only in respect to liturgical wisdom, but also to the significance of Zion in the fulfillments of the Christian era.

Gratitude is often understood as etiquette rather than ethics, an emotion rather than politics. It was not always so. From Seneca to Shakespeare, gratitude was a public virtue. The circle of benefaction and return of service worked to make society strong. But at the beginning of the modern era, European thinkers began to imagine a political economy freed from the burdens of gratitude. Though this rethinking was part of a larger process of secularization, it was also a distorted byproduct of an impulse ultimately rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the apostle Paul. Christians believed that God stood at the center of the circle of gratitude. God was the object of thanksgiving and God gave graciously. Thus, Christians taught that grace cancelled the oppressive debts of a purely political gratitude. Gratitude: An Intellectual History examines changing conceptions of gratitude from Homer to the present. In so doing, Peter J. Leithart highlights the profound cultural impact of early Christian "ingratitude," the release of humankind from the bonds of social and political reciprocity by a benevolent God who gave--and who continues to give--graciously.

Worship isn''t a retreat from the political and cultural clashes of our time or preparation for culture-transforming work. Culture is transformed in church liturgy. By working out a biblical theology of worship, Peter J. Leithart shows how the church''s liturgy Christianizes culture, moving creation toward its consummation in the new creation.

Peter Leithart''s exposition of the first twelve chapters of the gospel of Matthew is an enlightening and encouraging work. As usual Dr. Leithart provides the best of contemporary scholarship, coupled with the insights of the great students of God''s Word throughout history, resulting in a fresh perspective on the inspired text. This is a commentary that pastors will find extremely helpful in their studies, and laymen will enjoy reading as they seek to grow in their understanding of God''s Word. Dr. Leithart has again accomplished something unique by writing both an insightful commentary as well as an inspiring devotional work.

As the modern world crumbles, Christians scramble for answers. The solution is right in front of us - the Christian church, an outpost of the heavenly city among the cities of men. The Theopolitan Vision explains what the church is, and how the Spirit empowers the church''s world-transforming mission through Word and worship, Scripture and liturgy. It shows how the church can be a city of light in a dark age.