tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10020592.post3996067830806361909..comments2024-03-21T12:32:39.345-05:00Comments on Frankly Speaking: Write Your Own GospelFrank Bellizzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949066335378651585noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10020592.post-59531305152877747952008-09-02T21:45:00.000-05:002008-09-02T21:45:00.000-05:00FrankI love your response question and I want to s...Frank<BR/>I love your response question and I want to say "both and" as my answer. I know major cop-out but also true.<BR/>I think my wording change reflects more accurately what I believe Jesus was saying in his time to his audience. I think so much of the power of that message was that the Kingdom of God was for all people - the disenfranchised that had previously had no place. My limited language training does not give me the kind of credibility one would need to make a scholarly argument here. But, I think the overall theological arch of scripture, gospel itself, and my experience has led me to this reading. I will say hours and hours of digging through Dallas Willard on this has led me here too.<BR/><BR/>I spent many years figuring out how to be meek, poor in spirit etc because that is what I thought Jesus was calling me to in order to be a fully formed follower. Now I believe those words to be more descriptive of the reality of the kingdom and less prescriptive about what it takes to be a part of it.Arlene Kasselmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17215920805448767403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10020592.post-86423255739629955762008-09-02T15:50:00.000-05:002008-09-02T15:50:00.000-05:00Arlene,Thanks for the feedback. Always good to he...Arlene,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the feedback. Always good to hear from you.<BR/><BR/>About the wording of the Beatitudes, here's a related question: Are your alternatives simply better translations of the biblical text (maybe just a little more interpretive?) Or are you wanting to write what Jesus said based on what you think he'd say to your audience now? <BR/><BR/>I wonder how much that dynamic at work in the Four Gospels. <BR/><BR/>Presumably, Jesus preached in Aramaic. So did the gospel writers say to themselves, "Yeah, I know that's what Jesus said in Aramaic (assuming they knew that language too), but here's what he would have said . . . in Greek . . . 50 years later . . . to my intended audience"?Frank Bellizzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07949066335378651585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10020592.post-89786915149998166132008-09-02T15:38:00.000-05:002008-09-02T15:38:00.000-05:00Wow Frank - this is a blog post that is going to h...Wow Frank - this is a blog post that is going to have me in my thinker mode for days.<BR/><BR/>I was immediately struck by the fact that The Sermon on the Mount would feature prominently for me. The teaching from the beatitudes would be front and central addressing western cultures.<BR/><BR/>Seeing as you have laid out the challenge, I would also change the wording of the Beatitudes to reflect more accurately what I believe Jesus is saying. It would read something like this: The Kingdom of God is available for all people. For those who are meek, poor, weak, beaten down, on the fringes.<BR/><BR/>I'll keep thinking...Arlene Kasselmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17215920805448767403noreply@blogger.com