In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls on his listeners to “be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Some early Christian thought, however, was swimming in thick Greek philosophical soup, which understood “perfection” after the manner of Plato – there is a perfect idea of which the things of this world, includingContinue reading “When Perfect Ain’t Good Enough”
Tag Archives: sermon on the mount
Compassion – a “spiritual technology”…
Krista Tippett: Reconnecting with compassion | Video on TED.com. Compassion has become a cliché through overuse and overexposure, contends journalist Krista Tippett. With story and lateral thinking, she explores new ways to reclaim and implement a sorely needed collective value. By linking it with everyday expressions such as “kindness,” “curiosity without assumption” and “beauty”, she invitesContinue reading “Compassion – a “spiritual technology”…”
Turning the other cheek is not for sissies
Yep – it’s up for preachin’ this Sunday (Matthew 5:28-38) Turn the the other cheek to the one who strikes you, give your cloak also to the one who sues you for your coat, go the extra mile. What’s the rationale? According to Walter Wink: Turn your cheek, thus indicating to the one who backhandsContinue reading “Turning the other cheek is not for sissies”
Quizzing the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus looks over the crowd and declares “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…” How did he know? What did he see in the disparate mob gathered there? Fisherfolk, tax collector, tenant farmer – the curious, the cynic and the desperado. Was he declaring what was already innate orContinue reading “Quizzing the Sermon on the Mount”
Would the Beatitudes work in Egypt?
The famous opening lines of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount come up this Sunday. (Matthew 5:1-12). Contextually, they form the foundation of the manifesto for “the Kingdom of Heaven” that is at hand and announced successively by John the Baptist and Jesus. More contemporary language might replace “Kingdom” terms with the “all-pervadingContinue reading “Would the Beatitudes work in Egypt?”
Wondering about Wisdom
For my edification, I am reading Stephen S Hall, Wisdom: from philosophy to neuroscience.(University of Queensland Press, 2010). As a science writer, the author is particularly keen to explore potential new insights provided by the emerging neurosciences without jettisoning more conventional understandings of wisdom. In fact, he conjectures, wisdom is a phenomenon that cannot really be graspedContinue reading “Wondering about Wisdom”
Wondering Pilgrim 