* See the text of both passages quoted above underi. 3. The Lukan form of the parable is conspicuously secondary in char- acter; the Jewish phraseology is largely removed, and the description is generalized so as to be adapted to any locality. Matthew, on the other hand, gives a faithful picture of the conditions of house-building in the wadis of Galilee. Again, also, the literary superiority belongs to the First Gospel.
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
all men as sons of the one common Heavenly Father. The Kingdom of God in its Divine aspect is the purpose, love, and power of God which de- termine and accomplish this ideal condition ; in its human collective aspect it is the company of those who have earnestly set about the realization, in themselves and among men, of this Divine ideal. So that Jesus can sum up all duty, individual and social, in the one injunction to ‘Seek supremely the kingdom of God, and the righteousness which he wills’ (Mt 6%, Lk 12%; cf. Mt 22°44), And this righteousness is primarily an internal char- acteristic ; it is apprehended within the man. The religio-ethical ideal which God implants in every human heart must be heeded by each man, and his life must become conformed to it. Created b God in His own image, men must attain to God- likeness; and this attainment is, first of all, the recognition of and obedience to the ideal of life which God furnishes in the soul, moved and guided by the teaching and example of Jesus. Those persons will achieve perfect self-realization who enter into complete communion with God, hearing His voice, and doing His will as revealed within themselves and in and through Christ.
The absolute assurance of Jesus that He can reveal the will of God to men, and that this is His mission in the world, is a guarantee of the trust- worthiness of His teaching. If the Sermon on the Mount contains few explicit statements concerning the person of Christ such as abound in the Fourth Gospel, it is none the less true that the implica- tions of the discourse are equally high. The Divine personality, knowledge, and authority of Jesus are the foundation on which the discourse rests. The passages, Mt 51-17 721-23, only state what all the teaching involves, that He who speaks these words is ‘the Son of God’ in the highest sense, sustaining to Him a unique relation, and rendering to men a unique service. The value of the Sermon cannot therefore be overestimated, and the historical study or critical treatment of this material should never dominate or obscure the fact that this teaching is a Divine revelation of the will of God for men which is forthwith to be accomplished upon the earth.
LiTzRATURE.—For the quotations from, and allusions to, the Sermon on the Mount in the extra-canonical Christian literature of the first three centuries, see esp. Resch, Aussercanonische Paralleiteate z. d. Evangelien, Teil 1 (1893), pp. 62-114 ; Teil 2 (1895), pp. 62-106. For ideas and expressions akin to those of the Sermon on the Mount in Rabbinic literature, see Weber, Jidische Theologie2 (1897) ; Wiinsche, Neue Beitrage z. Erldu- terung d. Evangelien aus Talmud u. Midrasch (1878); Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, Bd. 1 (1898) [Eng. tr. 1902].
From the Patristic period the only specific separate treatment of the Sermon on the Mount is by Augustine, de Sermone Domini in Monte (Op., ed. Bened, vol. iii.) [Eng. tr. in ‘ Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,’ pp. 63]; it is an important work of interpretation, containing much that is of permanent value. Elsewhere in his writings Augustine dealt further with the Sermon, presenting in some respects different views. Trench collected all this material and prepared a digest of it, which he published under the title, Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, drawn from the Writings of St. Augustine (8rd ed. rev. 1869). Useful also are the interpretations of Origen, Comm. on Matthew (Op., ed. Lommatzsch, vols. iii. iv.) ; Jerome, Comm. on Matthew (Op., ed. Vallarsi, vol. vii.) ; Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew (Op., ed. Montfaucon, vol, vii.); Hilarius Pictaviensis, Comm. on Matthew _(Op., ed. Oberthiir, vol. vii.); the work of the Auctor Operts Imperfecti ; and the very brief matter in the Comm. on the Four Gospels by Theophylact and Euthymius Zigabenus.
From the Reformation period the important interpretation by Luther is first to be named, Comm. on Matthew (Works, ed. Walch, vol. vii.); and after him, Calvin in his Harmony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Works, ed. 1835-1838, vols. i. ii.), The three Roman Catholic works of most value are the Comm. on the Four Gospels by Maldonatus, Jansenius, and Cornelius a Lapide. The extensive but unimportant post - Reformation literature can be seen in full in Tholuck, Die Bergrede Christi 5, pp. 30-40 [Eng. tr. pp. 41-49]. ’
The Modern period has provided many works upon the Sermon on the Mount, some of them of great value. The standard work upon the subject for the past seventy years has been that of Tholuck, Die Bergrede Christi (Ist ed 1833; 5th
NEW TESTAMENT TIMES
ed. Gotha, 1872, pp. 484 [Eng. tr. from 4th Germ. ed., Edin- burgh, 1860, pp. 443]), and this still remains the most valuable volume on the Sermon, although a portion of the contents is now antiquated. Next in extent and importance is the equally elaborate work of Achelis, Die Bergpredigt (Bielefeld, 1875, pp. 492). Other works of scientific character, but smaller dimen- sions, are: Feine, ‘ Die Texte der Bergpredigt bei Matthaus u. bei Lukas,’ in Jahrbiicher fiir Protestantische Theologie, 1885, ae 1-85; Steinmeyer, Die Rede des Herrn auf dem Berge Berlin, 1885, pp. 156); Ibbeken, Die Bergpredigt Jesus (2nd ed,, Einbeck, 1890, pp. 216); Hugo Weiss (Rom. Cath.), Die Bergpredigt Christi (ifreiburg, 1892, pp. 111); Grawert, Die Bergpredigt nach Matthdus (Marburg, 1900, pp. 77); Heinrici, Die Bergpredigt, quellenkritisch untersucht (Leipzig, 1900, pp. 81), and a second part dealing with the interpretation is promised ; Bacon, Sermon on the Mount (New York, 1902, pp. 258).—Homiletic treatments of the Sermon are numerous in German, French, and English, An anonymous work, Die Bergpredigt (Gitersloh, 1881, pp. 48); Griillich, Die Bergpredigt des Herrn Jesu Christi (Meissen, 1886, pp. 148); Harnisch, Die Bergpredigt des Herrn (Breslau, 1901, pp. 35); Kaiser, Die Berg- predigt des Herrn (Leipzig, 1901), pp. 521; Monneron, Le Sermon sur la Montagne (Lausanne, 1889, pp. 412); J. B. Bousset, Le Sermon sur la Montagne (Paris, 1900, pp. 150 [Eng. tr., New York, 1900, pp. 144]). The best English work is by C. Gore, The Sermon on the Mount (London, 1896, pp. 218); it contains much, however, that is only of local ecclesiastical interest ; further, W. B. Carpenter, Zhe Great Charter of Christ (London, 1895, pp. 300). Of special importance are the works of B. Weiss, Meyer-Kommentar tiber das Matthdusevangelium (Gottingen, 1898), and of H. Holtzmann, Hand-Commentar tiber die Synop- tiker (8rd_ed., Freiburg, 1900); other commentaries upon Matthew (Meyer, Morison, Keil, Broadus, Kiibel, Bruce, et al.), Luke (Godet, Plummer), and both Matthew and Luke (Bengel, Bleek, Olshausen, Ewald, Fritzsche, Kuin6l, Nésgen, et. al.) are of varying usefulness.