By Emmet Fox
Excerpt from The Sermon on the Mount. (Chapter 2, "The Beatitudes") 
"And seeing the crowd, climbed a mountain, and sat down, he approached his disciples. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
"And seeing the crowd, climbed a mountain, and sat down, he approached his disciples. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and ye shall say of all evil for my sake.
Rejoice and be glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew, V 1-12)
The Sermon on the Mount begins with the eight Beatitudes . This is without doubt one of the most popular sections of the Bible. Even those whose knowledge of Scripture is limited to half a dozen of the more familiar chapters, has memorized the Beatitudes.
rarely understand them, unfortunately, and generally regard them as advice to a theoretical perfection without any application in daily life. This fact is due to complete lack of spiritual key .
The Beatitudes are a beautiful prose poem of eight lines, forming a harmonious whole that is while finishing a summary of Christian teaching.
synopsis is considered more spiritual than literary, which reflects the spirit of education better than the lyrics. Summaries of this kind are characteristic of ancient oriental system of treating a religious or philosophical issue.
reminds us of the Eight Paths of Buddhism , the Ten Commandments of Moses and other similar compilations.
Jesus was devoted exclusively to teach general principles, which always had to do with mental states, because He knew that when you honestly think the behavior is also straight, and, conversely, when thought takes a crooked direction, nothing can succeed.
Unlike other great religious leaders. Jesus does not give us detailed instructions about what should or should not do, does not command us to eat or drink certain things or refrain from them, does not command us to fulfill such and such ritual observances at certain times or seasons.
Actually, his whole message is antirritualista and anti-formalist. So it was intransigent at all times with the Jewish clergy and his theory of salvation through verified ceremonies in the temple
"The hour has come when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father ... but now it's time and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such are the worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. "
The Pharisees, with its terrible and detailed code of external requirements, were the only ones to whom Jesus showed a complete intolerance.
A scrupulous Pharisee that time, most of them were extremely strict, had to comply with every day to a host of exterior trim to achieve awareness that there satisfy the requirements of their God.
A contemporary rabbi has calculated the number of such requirements in a hundred, and it is obvious that no human being would dutifully fill such responsibility, the natural consequence would be that the victim, knowing never hit the exact line of duty , live perennially under a chronic sense of sin.
however, believed to be roughly equivalent sinner sinner with all the consequences arising from that condition. The ethics of Jesus contrasts with this. Its purpose is to liberate the heart to put their trust in outward things, is to achieve temporary or rewards for achieving spiritual salvation.
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He wants a completely new mindset , and this is what the Beatitudes show us graphically ... "
can download the full text (" The Sermon on the Mount "by Emmet Fox) Internet, or ask it and you send it by email.
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