Beatitudes discussion, part 1: Blessed are the poor in spirit...

[Agaliha]

Since the Beatitudes won the poll, I decided to make the first thread.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."


What does this mean to you?
What does "poor in spirit" mean and why is it necessary for heaven?
Discuss!

[Bix]

I think poor in spirit refers to those who are more downtrodden in their lives. I think people really try and find hope in their darkest hours. So, those who have experience great pain in their lives perhaps realize their dependence on a higher being for comfort. I don't think it is necessary for heaven, per se, but I do think it allows them to put more faith in a deity they can trust.

[Agaliha]

Interesting. That does make sense.

(from my pov)--There are many (Muslim) sayings about how hardships, struggles and the like bring one closer to Allah, that it's in those times of need that we often look to Him the most. I've found it to be true. That's not to say one should only look to God in times of need, though, as God is very much a part of the everyday life in Islam (when life is good or bad). The remembrance (dhikr) of Allah is very important...

I'm reading a book called, "Essential Sufism (http://books.google.com/books?id=YnXCDr8IUakC&dq=Essential+Sufism&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=aOdoSsWFK4KssgO51pWWBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4)" and came across a mention of the "spirituality poor" in it. It was explaining how in some countries Sufis are called "Faqir" which means poor person, but than linked it to the "spirituality poor" and said: "...those whose hearts are empty of attachment to anything other than God. They realize that they have nothing, that they can do nothing, that they are nothing without God. They rely on nothing in this world, only on God." (pg 3)

Even though it wasn't a direct interpretation of the Beatitudes, I like this idea. Though it is a hard one to strive for.

I'm going to see what others I can find as well.

I found a few differences in translation:

GOD'S WORD® Translation (http://gwt.scripturetext.com/matthew/5.htm)
"Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them."

International Standard Version (http://isv.scripturetext.com/matthew/5.htm)
"How blessed are those who are destitute in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them!"

& one short commentary said:
The poor in spirit. The humble, in contrast with the haughty; those sensible of spiritual destitution. The same state of mind is referred to when he speaks elsewhere of a contrite and broken spirit.
http://bible.cc/matthew/5-3.htm

[Earthy]

I like to read more than one translation, because sometimes what confuses you in one translation may become clearer in another.

I especially liked this one:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them."

We are helpless without Him, and only when we truly realise that,that only through Him can we enter heaven.

[Corvis Canis Latrans]

To me it ties in with becoming as little children in order to come into heaven.

Letting go of ego (which may happen through hardship), letting go of expectation, preconceived notions, because those act as blinders, never allowing one to see the truth of heaven.

I have a ways to go, if that's true....even believing anything is possible, we still have our pet ideas of how things might be, or how we want them to be....;)

[LacyRoze]

I especially liked this one:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them."



This is the translation the resonates with me. Without God I can do nothing. It is only through him I may enter heaven.

[Tobias]

You have to bare in mind that, for Jesus when he was saying this, the Kingdom of Heaven was not something to attain when we die, but something real and tangible that affects the way we live right now. It was only later that Christianity developed Heaven into strictly an afterlife thing. But if you read through the gospels, you see that Jesus preached the "good news of the kingdom" as a state of being that included oneness with God.

Being "poor in spirit" was/is necessary for gaining access to the "Kingdom." In contrast, we have the rich people, for whom "It is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven." Something about pride, self dependency, and worldly satisfaction that prohibits a person from comprehending the need for spiritual dependence upon God.


Jesus' teachings bridged the gap between God and a group of people rejected by their religion (the Pharisees), living under the oppression of Rome, and feeling also rejected by their God who was supposed to give them national autonomy.

[Cassie]

Just curious, but in the context of the beatitudes what exactly do you think the term "blessed" means?

[Agaliha]

Just curious, but in the context of the beatitudes what exactly do you think the term "blessed" means?

I thought it was referring to the bold definition:


blessed (for 1-2, blest, also bles′id; for 3-5, bles′id, also blest)
adjective


holy; sacred; consecrated
enjoying great happiness; blissful
of or in eternal bliss; a title applied to a person who has been beatified
bringing comfort or joy
confounded; cursed: an intensive


Wiki:

In Christianity, the Beatitudes (from Latin beatus, meaning "blessed" or "happy")&--

"Beatitude"
1491, "supreme happiness," from L. beatitudo "state of blessedness," from beatus "happy, blessed," pp. of beare "make happy." As "a declaration of blessedness" (especially in ref. to the Sermon on the Mount) it is attested from 1526.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Also some translations of the Beatitudes substitute "Blessed" for "Happy are..."

So those that live up to these ideals will find contentment and happiness with God. At least that's how I thought it was interpreted in Christianity. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Bix]

I see blessed in this context as being in favor with God. From this, you gain happiness and contentment in life by being close to God.