online.
There may be nothing more unsettling to the (post)modern mind than zeal. Faith’s OK, many suppose, so long as it’s small and well-behaved, trotted out on a short leash at the odd moments — like birth and death — when blood elides into mystery.
Roth
No doubt this is one reason so many readers of Scripture dismiss the Old Testament, writing off its doughty holiness with broad strokes. Too often we read the Old Testament like we’re skipping stones, skimming from Psalm 23 to Micah 6:8 and glancing off a few safe snatches of Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Then there’s Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, that young priest willing to stand up, willing to interrupt idolatry, willing even [...]