i am deliviering children's message at church tommorow and need a good definition of beatitude. ive got a great story, just not a great definition.
2007-01-20 18:07:53 · 10 answers · asked by kim k 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"The Beatitudes (from Latin, beatitudo, happiness) is the name given to the well-known, definitive and beginning portion of the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel of Matthew. Some are also recorded in the Gospel of Luke. In this section Jesus describes the qualities of the citizens of the Kingdom of heaven (it refers to the reign or sovereignty of God over all things, as opposed to the reign of earthly or satanic powers), showing how each is/will be blessed. The Beatitudes do not describe many separate individuals, but rather the characteristics of those who are deemed blessed by God. Kodjak believes that this opening of the sermon was meant to shock the audience, as a deliberate inversion of standard values, but that today this shock value has been lost owing to the commonness of the text.
Each of the blessed individuals is generally not considered blessed according to worldly standards, but with a heavenly perspective—that is, truly blessed. The word traditionally translated into English as "blessed" or "happy" is in the Greek original μακαριος (makarios); a more literal translation into contemporary English would be "possessing an inward contentedness and joy that is not affected by the physical circumstances". Each of the Beatitudes presents a situation in which the person described would not be described by the world as "blessed", yet Jesus declares that they truly are blessed, and they are blessed with a blessing that outlasts any type of blessing this world has to offer.
These verses are quoted early in the Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom, which continues to be the liturgy most often used in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Similar sayings are also recorded in a few of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and are found in Jewish sources that predate the Christian era. Four of the beatitudes are found also in Luke's Sermon on the Plain, which many scholars feel is the same event as the Sermon on the Mount. In textual criticism these beatitudes are seen as originating in the Q document, and the large Sermon they appear within simply being an invention of Matthew and Luke to provide an excuse for quoting them. Luke's Sermon has four woes in addition to the four beatitudes, and Matthew uses the woes elsewhere for use against the Pharisees, so some scholars, such as Gundry, see Matthew as having wanted to keep the eightfold structure and consequently having to create four additional sayings."
2007-01-20 18:13:09 · answer #1 · answered by Jim Ignatowski 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Beatitudes
1.Supreme blessedness or happiness.
2.Beatitude Any of the declarations of blessedness made by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
2007-01-20 18:19:07 · answer #2 · answered by Texas Patriot 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus was tempted by the devil saying all this could be yours if you bow down to me. OK!
On Jesus' way to the mount where he spoke briefly, he encountered many people who were famished, tired, cripled, diseased, wary but hopeful, and just plain needed some solice about what was all going on really. Jesus spoke up and and told of the blessings and happiness that lie ahead for all the different people with different problems and despair who remain steadfast in the Lord.
Beattitudes= promises of blessings and hapiness for all who believe.
2007-01-20 18:32:10 · answer #3 · answered by stray cat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The beatitudes explain what Jesus meant, and what he promised would result, from "living" the new commandments that he personally gave to us, which were:
Love God.
Love your neighbor.
2007-01-20 22:17:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't have an answer for your question.
I love the Sermon on the Mount....it is one of the most inspiring messages in the Bible. Jesus had a very good way of using words to remind each soul of it's own truth.
Peace!
2007-01-20 18:18:57 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Eight declarations of special blessedness pronounced by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
2007-01-20 18:30:45 · answer #6 · answered by Capernaum12 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the word beatitude means blessing, so the beatitudes are the blessings certain persons who fall under certain category recieve
2007-01-20 18:12:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Beatitude is from the latin word for happiness.
2007-01-20 18:15:13 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keep it simple.. the "Be" attitudes.
As in strive to be come.
2007-01-20 18:19:46 · answer #9 · answered by Bill Mac 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Little late to be working on this isn't it?
read this:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02371a.htm
2007-01-20 18:13:55 · answer #10 · answered by tonks_op 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋