Blessed Are The Peacemakers, Part 2
September 1st 2007 13:12
Hey Winston,
I disagree. I know, you're shocked. Me and you not seeing eye to eye on something. While you're reeling from this I'll do my best to make my point quickly and efficiently. I'm going to paraphrase a little, but my thinking have been influenced by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship"
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Those that admit they don't have everything together can improve. As good as any of us are, admitting we are not perfect helps us alot more than believing there is nothing wrong with us. God cannot work with anyone that doesn’t say to Him, one way or another “Hey, you’re right.”
Blessed are the Gentle for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. In other words, blessed are those that want to do the right thing and do it. They're going to help out and be fulfilled. Is this doubtable? Mother Theresa herself had her doubts in her life. She felt empty and used up often, but she still did what she wanted to do for people. She still loved God and loved people and it was the life that she loved.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall recieve mercy. Yeah, bombing people and seeking vengence works. Not as well as going out to people, loving them, blessing them. As Ghandi said "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry might have sung that there ain’t no problem that can’t be solved by kicking it’s ass, which this song declares so well but I beg to differ.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God, Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the Sons of God. Well, after doing all that soul searching, good works, and loving people, I cannot deny that you'll be closer to Him than before.
Blessed are those that have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Doing good isn't always fun. The fact that God says to us that this is so, does tell us that He is at least, realistic. Good should be done for the sake of doing good. I do believe that God desires this of us.
Hope it helps.
JZ
I disagree. I know, you're shocked. Me and you not seeing eye to eye on something. While you're reeling from this I'll do my best to make my point quickly and efficiently. I'm going to paraphrase a little, but my thinking have been influenced by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship"
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Those that admit they don't have everything together can improve. As good as any of us are, admitting we are not perfect helps us alot more than believing there is nothing wrong with us. God cannot work with anyone that doesn’t say to Him, one way or another “Hey, you’re right.”
Blessed are the Gentle for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. In other words, blessed are those that want to do the right thing and do it. They're going to help out and be fulfilled. Is this doubtable? Mother Theresa herself had her doubts in her life. She felt empty and used up often, but she still did what she wanted to do for people. She still loved God and loved people and it was the life that she loved.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall recieve mercy. Yeah, bombing people and seeking vengence works. Not as well as going out to people, loving them, blessing them. As Ghandi said "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry might have sung that there ain’t no problem that can’t be solved by kicking it’s ass, which this song declares so well but I beg to differ.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God, Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the Sons of God. Well, after doing all that soul searching, good works, and loving people, I cannot deny that you'll be closer to Him than before.
Blessed are those that have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Doing good isn't always fun. The fact that God says to us that this is so, does tell us that He is at least, realistic. Good should be done for the sake of doing good. I do believe that God desires this of us.
Hope it helps.
JZ
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Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
I think I mis-spoke in my comment to you. It's not simply the Beatitudes that I find fault with, it's the entire Sermon on the Mount, of which the Beatitudes are only a small portion. On the whole, the Sermon gives advice that is contradictory, short-sighted, and intended for only short duration (at the time it was given, Jesus was implying that the end of the world, his return, etc. were going to happen within the lifetimes of those assembled). It was with the Sermon in mind that I commented on the Beatitudes. I apologize, that was my clarification error. By themselves the Beatitudes are OK (and you do a nice job here in elaborating on your interpretations of them) but still not without their flaws. In particular, this section strikes me:
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
I believe that this passage encourages Christians to feel persecuted, even where persecution does not exist. In America, cries of "Christian persecution" abound. I have to laugh when I hear that, as I'm sure the early Christians would as well. If having an 80% majority, dominance on the Supreme Court bench, and an Evangelical in the White House, along with booming sales of Christian literature, music, etc. is persecution, then sign me up. We should all be so lucky as to be "persecuted" thusly. It's a joke, and yet there are many who loudly assert that they are met with the most evil persecution at every turn. Obviously it's not true, so why even try to say it with a straight face? Because, as that part of the Beatitudes makes clear, part of being a good Christian is suffering for your belief. Hard to do when you are the party in control, so they seize on whatever little blips of conflict that they can. It's an unhelpful portion of the Beatitudes to say the least.
That's the main fault I find with the Beatitudes, although are other things about them that bother me. All a matter of interpretation I suppose. One thing, though. Be careful in using Mother Theresa as any sort of virtuous example. She was not what the general public believed her to be. Her virtue is far short of popular imagining. I would even go so far as to call her anti-humanitarian.
Thanks again for the additional information, and I'm sorry that I mis-spoke in the first place. When you do a post on the entire Sermon on the Mount, we can get into a more lengthy discussion
Comment by JoshZ
A Simple Christian
always glad to have you along.
I'll get more into the beatitudes later on. I'm going to do some more reading.
As far as the persecution goes, I think it is more christians feeling sorry for themselves and not realising just how good they have it. Especially in the western world. We have it pretty damn easy.
So what, we're not supposed to pray at schools. Who is really going to stop you? So what, people make fun of what you believe? They will always find something to make fun of.
As far as Mother Theresa went, I am going to read the book that has come out recently that is made up of her letters. I think that at the very least, she has inspired others to do good. I do hope at the very least that this is true.
Dude, me and Nata are going great!! Thanks for asking and for being both honest and interesting.
JZ
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by JoshZ
A Simple Christian
the kind of things done for Christ are things He would never do Himself.
Nice to see you here though, hope to see you again.
JZ