Leithart was ordained a
teaching elder in the
Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).[7] In June 2011, Leithart was tried by his
presbytery for
heresy related to his views regarding the
Federal Vision. In October 2011 he was exonerated on all charges.[8] Following his move to Birmingham in 2013, the presbytery with jurisdiction there denied his request to labor out of bounds (in a ministry not connected to the PCA) at Theopolis Institute.[7] He is now a minister in the
Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches and the Senior Theological Mentor for the St. Peter Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Scholarship
His first book, The Catechism of the New Age: A Response to Dungeons and Dragons (1987), co-authored with pastor
George Grant, was related to the
Dungeons & Dragons religious controversies, when certain religious groups accused
the game of encouraging sorcery and the veneration of
demons.
Joseph P. Laycock wrote that their book condemned role-playing as allowing too much freedom, which the authors regard as a gateway to critical thinking which in turn may result in heretical thought.[9]
In his 2010 book, Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom, Leithart takes issue with fellow theologian
John Howard Yoder's position that Constantine steered the Church in the wrong direction by abandoning Christ's doctrine of nonviolence, exemplified by his willingness to die rather than defend himself. Leithart argues that God did not want Christians to live as a powerless, oppressed minority. Constantine Revisited: Leithart, Yoder, and the Constantinian Debate,John D. Roth, editor, 2013, is a collection of essays by Christian pacifists criticizing Leithart's argument.[10]
Publications
with
Grant, George (1987). The Catechism of the New Age: A Response to Dungeons and Dragons.
with
DeMar, Gary (1988). The Reduction of Christianity.
with
Grant, George (1990). Clean Air: A Citizen's Handbook for Media Accountability.
with
Grant, George (1990). In Defense of Greatness: How Biblical Character Shapes a Nation's Destiny.
with
Grant, George (1990). The Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Fall of Communism in Our Time.
The Epistles of John Through New Eyes: From Behind the Veil. Through new eyes Bible commentary series. Athanasius Press. 2009.
ISBN978-0-9842439-0-7. In this
verse-by-verse commentary, Leithart asserts that John, in
his epistles, is continuing themes that he began to write about in
his gospel, but which now have heightened in intensity and urgency as the
fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD approaches.
Jane Austen. Christian Encounters Series. Thomas Nelson. 2010.
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels. Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press. 2010.
ISBN978-1591280804.
^
abHarrison, Judy (1 April 2006). "Brush up your Shakespeare ... because professor Peter Leithart thinks the Bard's masterpieces and Christian theology are not exactly strange bedfellows". Bangor Daily News. p. 8.
ProQuest414290061.
^"Lectures". Association of Reformed Colleges and Universities.
^Date of birth information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding
WorldCat Identities
linked authority file (LAF). Retrieved on July 26, 2019.
^Pitts, Jamie (1 September 2012). "Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture . By Peter J. Leithart". Literature and Theology. 26 (3): 353–355.
doi:
10.1093/litthe/frs020.
JSTOR23927526.