Blog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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The Sermon on the Mount (Continued) – 16 October 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

In Matthew 5:9 Jesus says,

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
~ King James Version

I noticed that the King James Version uses the word “children” instead of “sons” which is the word used in both the New King James Version as well as The New American Standard Bible. I wondered why the later versions changed “children” to “sons,” until I looked at the original Greek; there it is indeed the word for “sons” (υιοί) that is used.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [or daughters] of God.”
~ New American Standard Bible

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons [or daughters] of God.
~ New King James Version

Why do so many professing evangelical Christians seem to live as though Matthew 5:9 says the opposite of “peacemakers”? Jesus did not say “blessed are the warmongers”; yet, except for advocating for the unborn, they seem to support the taking of life, where capital punishment and war are concerned. In this respect, Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” also appears to be ignored.

How can humans hope to climb to a higher level, to live according to God’s original intent, if the ones who claim to be believers ignore the fundamentals laid down by Jesus? What kind of example do they offer to the unbelievers?

Why call oneself “fundamentalist” if one doesn’t grasp that Jesus’ Beatitudes are fundamental? What could be more to the point – fundamental – than “blessed are the merciful” and “blessed are the peacemakers”?

Go on to: The Sermon on the Mount (Continued) – 17 October 2006
Return to: The Sermon on the Mount (Continued) – 15 October 2006
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