What I still don't get is where
that "love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good
to them that hate you" came
from. Devout Jew that he was,
fond of quoting scripture, he
couldn't cite chapter and verse
for it (and not just because
there were no chapters or verses)
and Ghandi wasn't going to show
up for another nineteen centuries.
It's surprising that anybody even
remembered it and that someone
later wrote it down. It must have
struck his listeners as preposterous,
unthinkable. Which is maybe why
that of the millions who identify
themselves as his followers,
only a figurative handful
attempt to take it seriously.
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Thought provoking, insightful. It IS interesting that it was remembered. In addition to it striking listeners as preposterous and unthinkable, perhaps Jesus actually said it many times. Perhaps it was an oft-repeated theme rather than a one-time thing.
ReplyDeleteYes, maybe it was "an oft-repeated theme." That makes its appearance in Matthew and Luke more understandable. I guess I'm guided by the rule-of-thumb for biblical study that I remember (I think) from seminary days, i.e., the more outrageous a statement by Jesus recorded in the gospels, the more likely it is that Jesus actually said them.
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