The principles of the Beatitudes are missing in the contemporary Church, regardless of affiliation, and in the world.
Maybe one of the problems is that the Beatitudes seem strange and even sappy to contemporary ears, or as small comforts to big problems. Another may be that few Christians, including myself, are able to even begin to live according to them.
But in the last couple of years as I have studied the Beatitudes more carefully, and as I keep knocking and seeking and pressing in to understand them, I keep finding new and extraordinary dimensions of meaning and significance. I have read some commentators who claim that they are rules that Jesus gave to show an ideal no one can achieve, but I don't buy it. I mean, I agree with the sentiment, but I don't buy the idea that this was the purpose that Jesus had in mind when he gave the Sermon on the Mount.
From my perspective, the Beatitudes are the essence, the lifeblood and beating heart of authentic, ancient and living Christianity. Here they are (from Mt 5:3-10):
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Looking at the Beatitudes as a kind of ladder, an ascent, I have discovered some amazing things about spirituality and its fundamental relationship to the world. The Beatitudes have intense significance in a world where many Christians want to change others and the world from the top down, through forced conformity rather than genuine conversion.
The Beatitudes express the idea that peace comes from peacemakers who are characterized by their poverty of spirit, their ability to mourn for the world, their lack of attachments or clinging to personal rights, their hunger for the healing of the world, their extreme mercy extended even towards their worst enemies, and their purity of heart. Peacemakers, according to Christ, are the instruments who bring peace to the world because they exemplify these characteristics. Change comes from the inside and moves towards the external. Peacemakers are persecuted because they present a challenge to authority which compels from the outside but cannot penetrate the interior.
No one is persecuted for Christ's sake because of their political ideology, or their moral position on some behavior, as if Jesus were a theorist like Ayn Rand or Karl Marx and Christianity just another system of ethics. True persecution that is blessed by God is for living a life according to the Beatitudes.
As my study continues to evolve I have started writing a book length personal reflection on the Beatitudes. Fall and Rise, in which I attempt to show their relevance to modern life in concrete ways.
I see the Beatitudes as being revolutionary. They are antithetical to conventional wisdom or common sense in our present culture. The Beatitudes are not mere rhetoric, but apply to every area of life, from poverty and one's attitude towards money and things and how we care for those who have less to our relationship to the earth, to matter itself and to ecology.
The Beatitudes teach us how to "be peace," not just be at peace, but to become peace so that peace can spread, and that peace can come from being rooted both in the life of God and in the physical world.
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I think that Matthew 5:3 needs a little more explanation. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heavens belong to them."You called it "poverty of spirit" .
The literal translation of this expression is obscure in many languages. We know that no two languages are exactly alike, in grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure. Also people who speak different languages "think differently". Consequently the forms taken by the sentence in different languages are not the same" (Professor of Hebrew, S.R. Driver).
That being said- Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit", if thought of in a "strictly literal sense" might imply "lacking in vitality and determination" or even "mentally imbalanced", which is not the intent. Jesus here was teaching that happiness depended, not on satisfying their physical needs, but on recognizing their need for God's guidance. (Luke 6:20) So such renderings as "those who know their need for God" or "those conscious of their spiritual need" more accurately convey the meaning of this expression, (the New Testament in Modern English).
I think you have described it as exactly 'revolutionary'. Here is your quote: "I see the Beatitudes as being revolutionary." (You go on to say they are "...not mere rhetoric...")
And you may interpret the Beatitudes however you wish. So May Ehrman, St. Basil and every other man, woman and child that feels compelled to attempt the exegesis.
That is my point.
Apart from your use of the word 'revolutionary' to describe the Beatitudes, it is your use of the word 'Orthodox' that disappoints me the most.
For what does that mean? Orthodoxy? To be "right and correct"... According to whom? The majority of the powerful? The ones who wrote the rules?
Religion creates an "us" and a "them" like few other ideological constructs. And that is the problem.
You are Orthodox (read: of correct belief) and your orthodox (read: correct) belief leads you to read the words of Jesus, your Saviour, as revolutionary.
I hope you and all your Orthodox Christian buddies interpret the full scope of Jesus's message, and the rest of the Bible, in a way that is a bit more socially ...erm... "correct" in this millineum that the two previous.
Perhaps then we can avoid all the suffering, discrimination and bigotry that has been the result of the 'Orthodox Revolution' you find in the words of God.
Your personal interpretation of the Beatitudes and their meaning/significance may or may not be what Jesus intended. You don't know. Leading scholars on the subject seem not to favor your view.
And when you decide on an interpretation of the Beatitudes, and view this interpretation as revolutionary and relevant to modern life... well, revolutionary and relevant mean something. Something significant to the modern world.
Maybe you are just using them cuz they sound nice and poetic?
My reference to "orthodox" is not specifically to any particular denomination or sect, but more broadly to the concept of orthodox as "correct belief" and its place within the Christian faith.
And it is when people are convinced of their correct belief (when they are convinced they are the "orthodox"), and that belief is "revolutionary" and "anithetical to common sense", that such a belief has consequences.
If the scripture being interpretted is benign, like the Beatitudes, then maybe the revolution it produces is nice and peaceful. But much of the Bible -- including the words of Jesus -- can be, and has been, interpetted and used for much less peacefull "revolutions".
Anyway, I'm sure you are busy with the book... Good luck with it! :)
( Here is a link to an article and discussion about Ehrman's recent book arguing for the existence of the historical Jesus... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/did-jesus-exist-bart-ehrman_n_1400465.html)
It is the most interesting thing, to me, in regard to scripture: People are able to see just about anything in the text.
If they want to see a call to war. They see it. A call to peace, and even pacificism? There it is. If they want to see social justice or justification for slavery, equal rights or racial or sexual discrimination... it is all there.
The Bible is a big book, after all. You can interpret it to say almost anything you'd like and draw support for almost any agenda.
Eric Simpson, this article's writer, finds meaning in the Beatitudes that was probably not there and never intended. He, nonetheless, finds his personal interpretation "revolutionary"...
Isn't that kind of the problem with religion? Applying personal interpretation to a text that is perceived as of divine revelation, and then acting in a revolutionary way to spread your interpretation and whatever social or political implications it may cause.
All the while, you haven't the slighest shred of evidence that the text is actually divine or your personal interpretation is actually accurate.
Not sure where thatguy117 was coming from but I think his response to your article was a bit harsh and premature. He probably should wait for your book to come out before passing these sorts of judgements. Of course, this is a free country and thatguy117 can say whatever he wants. Good luck with listening to that "still small voice" within you as you write your book. I am thrilled that someone today is actually reading and reflecting seriously on teh Beatitudes. I wish more people did that and put them into practice, as it is evident Jesus wished for us to do as well.
I would agree that the principles of the Beatitudes are missing in most organized religions. However, far from the media glare I have found Christians who practice these principles plus the other things mentioned in these chapters which contain the Sermon on the Mount. One has to listen with one's heart not one's head. That is the only way to really understand them.
http://peter.sff.home.insightbb.com/bibleandlife_2008_3.htm
Cursed are the poor, for they deserve no health care
Blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit the earth
"Blessed are the poor in spirit?" Which is better, to be "poor in spirit" or to be "eager and willing in spirit?" Being poor in spirit is to be faint hearted.
"Blessed are the peacemakers?" A hypocritical Jesus said (purportedly): "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matt. 10:34
"Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." There are many, many pure of heart non-Christians and non-believers who according to Jesus will not see God. Seems rather unfair, does it not?
I could go on but there is not enough space. The beatitudes were composed and written by someone who believed that the end was imminent and related these "blessings" to rewards in heaven. Luke couldn't manage to find more than four, Matt had a better source.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."
What he is talking about is the split that occurs in a family when one person converts, and the rest of the family is not of the faith. I am intimately familiar with this; I was raised in an atheist family. Thank God that reconciliation was possible.
What he is saying is that he doesn't care about a split in a family when one or some of them decide to follow him. However you want to spin this, it still means he is not a peacemaker.
If the energy and money that has been wasted on the myth that is religion over the centuries had been invested in education and humanity in general, the world would be a better place. Religion has always been a major cause of misery, unnecessary death and false hope.
I dare say it is possible that you disparage other's beliefs. The majority of Christians will snigger at the ridiculous claims of Mormons and Scientologists, but I suggest that stories of virgin births, raising the dead, resurrection of the son of god, atonement, walking on water, feeding 5000 with a few fish and loaves of bread, dead saints rising from their graves, eternal punishment in lakes of fire, are just as ridiculous. What is immoral, in my view, is the brainwashing and conditioning of children from an early age, teaching them that these wild myths are fact, when you have only a flawed book full of fantasy, contradictions and inconsistencies, written by anonymous authors, to back it up.
I have made 1455 posts in over two years. Check out the many who have made thousands more than me and waste your sarcasm on them too.
We are repeatedly pushed into deifying celebrities, sportstars and politicians, and to emulate their drive for success. But the Beatitudes reminds us of the need to glorify our simple shared humanity with the weakest around us. Even to find hope in our darkest hour.
The very opposite of what we are repeatedly told in a consumerism focussed society.
When the earth returns to the paradisaic condition that it was originally intended to be, then those who have stayed "on God's path of righteousness" will find the conditions to be ideal and everlasting. So what is a few material possessions, now, in comparison to that wonderful time? There is no comparison. (Rev. 21:3,4)
The "Beatitudes" are no exception. Matthew 5:5 states that "the meek shall inherit the earth". Now- if the meek inherited the earth the way mankind has made a mess out of it, that would be no blessing or happiness at all. Throughout Scripture, the transformation of the earth back to the paradise-like conditions of the garden of Eden, is mentioned.
Jesus taught his followers a model prayer at Matthew 6:10. He instructed his followers not to say the same thing over and over (Matthew 6:7), so this prayer is not to be prayed by rote, but used as a guide. Everyone probably knows the prayer, but few hardly ever thinks about the meaning of it.
"Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified, Let your kingdom come, let you WILL be done on EARTH as it is in heaven.
Psalms 37:11 and 29 shows what this earth will be like and how long this will be- "The meek ones themselves will possess the earth and they will find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace." and 29- "The righteous themselves will possess the earth and they will reside FOREVER upon it."
Psalm 37 is about our soul, which is described as "the land" (interior terrain)
first the "evil-wicked" (spirits) invade but it is only for a while, "like the grass they will soon wither, like plants they will soon die' "for the evil men (spirits) will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit/inhibit the land" "in a little while the wicked (spirits) will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found" (remember when Jesus cured the people from evil spirits....if I cast out evil spirits by the power of God the the kingdom of God has come to you (inside)" quite simply "the wicked will perish....they will vanish--vanish like smoke" and as DANIEL described the proud tree flourishing, at some point in time, it is cut down "I have seen wicked (spirits) and ruthless men flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, but he/it soon passed away and was no more (born again) though I looked for him, he (evil spirits) could be found no more"
after getting cleaned-up, we are warned not to return to the evil temptations that led us astray (dog/vomit/stop sinning or something worse happen) struggling against those evil ways is how a holy Spirit (righteous) "dwells in the land forever"
The Hebrew word 'e'rets, translates as 1. land, country, territory (Genesis 10:10); 2. the planet earth (Genesis 1:2); 3. ground or surface of the ground (Genesis 1:26) or 4. people of all the globe (Genesis 18:25).
I have not seen it translated as "interior terrain". Where do you get this from? I believe that is a mistranslation on your part.
Also speaking of the "wicked" at Psalms 37:10- the Hebrew "rasha" from which the English word "wicked" is translated, literally has the meaning of "to depart from the path and become lost" as opposed to the Hebrew word "tsadiyq" which is "one who stays on the path" or the righteous ones. Psalm 37 is speaking of the wicked (ones who are on the wrong path) not the "wicked spirits"-- you added the word "spirits".
Another words - you cannot add words so that you are free to interpret it the way you want to, or it will be incorrect.
Your interpretation is very confusing.
"And just a little while longer and the wicked will be no more, you will look for him but he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth (the land) and they will indeed find delight in the abundance of peace." (Psalms 37:10,11)
"The righteous will inherit the land (the earth) and dwell forever upon it." (Psalms 37:29)