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Peter S. Hawkins

Peter S. Hawkins, who taught most recently at Yale Divinity School, is author of Dante’s Testaments.

Books

Astrolabes, sundials, candles, and clocks

Gillian Adler and Paul Strohm explore the medieval preoccupation with time.
Books

Seeing Dante with Botticelli’s eyes

Joseph Luzzi tells the rich, entertaining story of the Renaissance artist’s renderings of a quintessentially medieval text.
image of Ouija board
First Person

An oracle of the word of the Lord?

In the late 70s, two friends of mine housesat for the poet James Merrill—and got out his Ouija board.
Sunday’s Coming

A story without a hero

The Gospels show Jesus as prophet, teacher, and miracle worker. But most intriguingly, they depict him as a storyteller--one who could not only draw a crowd but keep it riveted.
Sunday’s Coming

The art of losing, the joy of finding

I have no idea what it would mean to be a shepherd, let alone someone who would abandon 99 sheep to go looking for a single stray.
In the Lectionary

September 18, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13

What is Jesus thinking when he tells the parable of the dishonest steward?
In the Lectionary

September 11, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Exodus 32:7-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10

James calls Abraham a “friend of God.” In this week’s reading from Exodus, Moses presumes upon a similar divine friendship to offer God advice.
Books

A taste for Dante

A. N. Wilson's literary biography aims to bridge the gap between the Commedia and nonspecialists who, allegedly abandoned by the professionals, are like sheep without a shepherd.
In the Lectionary

God the troublemaker: Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29

Going into the temple of the Lord would never be taken lightly. Still, Isaiah could not have imagined what was about to happen.
In the Lectionary

A song for the Sabbath: Psalm 92

Most worshipers take the psalms for granted, treating them like background music that establishes a mood but has little grip on the imagination....

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In the Lectionary

West coast witness: Matthew 16:13-20

As some friends and I ate a picnic lunch, we fell into a rambling conversation about politics, real estate values in an earthquake zone and the virtues of sauvignon blanc over chardonnay. Then I mentioned offhandedly that perhaps I viewed something or other the way I did because I was a Christian. This revelation did not strike me as a big deal. After all, they had been talking about Buddhist meditation, Sufi parables and personal spiritual rituals.
In the Lectionary

Dogging Jesus: Matthew 15:21-28

A kneeling woman does not have far to fall, and by all rights Jesus' insult should have floored her on the spot.
Feature

The bigger picture

My guess is that most middle-aged people when prodded to consider “aging” think immediately about what the flesh is heir to....
In the Lectionary

The Samaritan spends the night: Sunday, July 15. Deuteronomy 30: 9-14; Luke 10: 25-37

Sometimes the point of scripture is the transcendence of the Holy One. This was something Isaiah knew well—“Truly, you are a God who hides yourself” (45: 15) —as did the long-suffering Job....
In the Lectionary

Namaan's no-nonsense cure: Sunday, July 8. 2 Kings 5: 1-14

Traditional Christian appropriation of the Hebrew scriptures often flattens them. Stories become precursors of later New Testament events rather than genuine events in themselves....
In the Lectionary

A howl of despair: Sunday, June 24 Psalm 42  

The Psalms have always functioned as a book of common prayer. But there is also a long history of turning to the Psalter as a sourcebook for poetry. It is not difficult to see why....

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