Comments on: Beatitudes, not Platitudes

By: John Willson

John Willson — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:04:33 +0000

TJF@16:
It is significant, I think, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church uses "Our Vocation to Beatitude" to describe the heart of Jesus' preaching. The singular is important; the "beatitude of heaven" sets the standard for all earthly things in relation to God and His Kingdom. Any reductionism is both dangerous and distracting.
Lovely reflections, wonderfully timely.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:01:38 +0000

"It would be nice to see these passages in their proper context and meaning without the modernist filter which basically says that Christ came to eliminate physical violence and only physical violence."

Didn't St. Paul accomplish something like that.

By: woodcutter

woodcutter — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:46:04 +0000

“I think that both the Beatitudes and the injunction to love your enemy have been subsumed by liberalism and therefore twisted into some type of timid pacifism that sacrifices morality and right conduct” Edward

Very well said, and thanks to all for the good conversation. Liberalism has twisted many things. Thanks to Dr, Flemming for helping me understand some of these things. I am not an "educated" man and rely on sources like the Chronicles to help me along my journey. Great comments!

By: Steve Berg

Steve Berg — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:49:24 +0000

Dr. Peters @19, Not wishing to hijack this fine thread, but thank you very much for your beautiful description of Dugdemona Bayou. I have never been there. I know it only from my late friend's stories. His name was J. David McCartney. He was a fine and entertaining Christian gentleman, whose efforts saved many a troubled person, including myself.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:26:53 +0000

"I think that both the Beatitudes and the injunction to love your enemy have been subsumed by liberalism and therefore twisted into some type of timid pacifism that sacrifices morality and right conduct" Edward, This is a wise observation. One quality of courage is to know what to fear and what not to fear, or so Socrates suggested in one of the earlier dialogues. There is also Christ's instruction to fear those who can destroy the soul more than those who can kill the body. If one were to ask, "Where in our current climate is this instruction most ignored," it would be hard to exclude any aspect of contemporary habits. The University being the most vile and expensive example of ignoring one's duty to put first things first, or to put it another way, the refusal to place a priority on the good over the merely useful.

By: robert m. peters

robert m. peters — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:12:42 +0000

Mr. Berg @ 11

I am a child of the Dugdemona Bayou. It springs forth near Driskill Mountain, the highest point in Louisiana. When it reaches Georgetown, it merges with Castor Creek to become Little River into which the creeks of the polity of Pollock flow - Fish Creek, Big Creek, Clear Creek and Flagon Bayou. It then flows into and through Catahoula Lake and comes out as Old River and French Fork and, again as Little River, meets the Ouachita and the Tensas at Trinity/Jonesville to become the Black River which flows into the Red. Both of my paternal grandparents grew up on the Dugdemona. northwest of Winnfield. I have hunted many a hog, deer and squirrel as well as squealer duck in the Dugdemona Bottom. Just writing this paragraph brings me to smell the late spring and early summer on the Dugdemona.

By: Steve Berg

Steve Berg — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:06:42 +0000

@Edward, This is why I am hoping that Dr. Fleming will continue these discussions. It is extremely hard to understand these passages without a detailed knowledge of Greek. One of the reasons I attend my particular parish is that one of the priests there is well versed in Greek, and explains what the original text means in his sermons. He frequently corrects the translation of the lectionary. I once has the chance to start the study of Greek, but my workload at the time prevented me from doing that. I would also like to learn Latin. I am supposedly well educated, but realize that without a strong background in Greek and Latin, I have severe scholarly shortcomings.

By: Edward

Edward — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:36:53 +0000

"1) a careful examination of the apparently literal meaning of the words in the wider context of the entire NT, and 2) the traditional exegesis of the Church. A speculative interpretation that reduces the impact of the text is undesirable."

"We should also be clear that the enemy we are told to love is an echthros, a personal enemy not a foreign enemy (polemios) bringing war and murder to our homes. Because Christ’s teachings are aimed primarily at the followers who called themselves brothers, he is often aiming his arguments primarily at those people who have accepted the faith but continue to quarrel with each other over trivia. This deserves a much longer discussion, which we may be able to have later on."

I think that both the Beatitudes and the injunction to love your enemy have been subsumed by liberalism and therefore twisted into some type of timid pacifism that sacrifices morality and right conduct. This is partly the reason why anyone who asserts Christian doctrine unabashedly is branded as behaving un-Christian. It would be nice to see these passages in their proper context and meaning without the modernist filter which basically says that Christ came to eliminate physical violence and only physical violence.

By: TJF

TJF — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:00:29 +0000

There is an element, rather small, of what you say in the text but I fear not much. In the later parts of the Gospels, He addresses himself quite specifically to these questions and even polemically, but it would be a mistake to read such a view into this passage. I believe we have only two ways of proceeding, 1) a careful examination of the apparently literal meaning of the words in the wider context of the entire NT, and 2) the traditional exegesis of the Church. A speculative interpretation that reduces the impact of the text is undesirable.

By: Sempronius

Sempronius — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:20:19 +0000

Dr. TJF would you kindly review my brief "take" on all of this? In all that Christ said or did,His main,if not exclusive,audience was the Palestinian Jew.The key to understanding Christ is His opening of the heretofore exclusivist Jewish Covenant,to Gentiles.This opening would be difficult to explain to a people steeped for centuries in anti-Gentile animus.The miracles and parables,properly understood,were meant to illustrate the transformative effect of Christ's intercessionary Grace on the long hated "Goy,"turning him into something "good" from-pace Jewish opinion-something "bad." Metaphorically speaking then;the blind man,the lame,the prodigal son,the adulteress,the prostitute,the publican etc.,are a type of Gentile who,in contrast to their opposites;the sighted,the fit etc.,are a type of "Chosen" Jew.By healing or otherwise befriending the "Gentile," Christ is intimating,as well as demonstrating,the New Covenant He has come to announce. If any of this is correct then the Sermon on the Mount can be read thusly.

Blessed are the poor in spirit[Gentile]:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven[no longer excluded from Divine Grace]Blessed are they that mourn[unfortunate Gentile]:for they shall be comforted[shown favors formerly reserved for Jews]Blessed are the meek[lowly non-Jews]:for they shall inherit the earth[acquire privileges previously denied]Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness[unsustained by membership in the Jewish nation]:for they shall be filled[invited to join the formerly exclusive spiritual banqueting table of the Jewish nation]

. And in a similar vein.

Blessed are the merciful[Jews who understand and accept the new Dispensation]:for they shall obtain mercy[the Divine Father shall look kindly upon them for doing so].Blessed are the peacemakers[Jews who "make nice" with Gentiles]:for they shall be called the children of God[remain Divine Favorites]

etc.. In fine,I read the Sermon as a kind of parable.Is that Orthodox?