Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance (Enduring Questions in Christian Life) [Hardcover]

Glen H Stassen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 2006 | Series: Enduring Questions in Christian Life (Book 3)

In Living the Sermon on the Mount, theologian and award-winning author Glen H. Stassen helps us to see that the revolutionary ideas in the Sermon on the Mount about loving and caring for each other, living in peace, and acting justly are not unattainable ideals but a recipe for wholeness and healing in our human relationships and deliverance from the vicious cycles that we get stuck in.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the most helpful analysis of the Sermon on the Mount that I have ever studied. It does not paralyze readers with idealism and force us to dismissal, nor does it back off from a very real initiative that we can take."
—Richard Rohr, Franciscan priest; founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico

"This book is the blessed fruit of Glen H. Stassen’s seminal studies of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Laced with memorable stories that illustrate the Sermon on the Mount’s realism, this book excels in its interpretation and appropriation of Jesus’ hard words both personally and politically. Well written and often gripping, it deserves wide use by seminary and university students and church study groups.:
—Willard M. Swartley, professor emeritus of the New Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

From the Inside Flap

More than two thousand years have passed since Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and yet these powerful words still capture the imagination of Christians and non-Christians throughout the world. But they are also daunting—how can ordinary mortals live such a challenge?

In Living the Sermon on the Mount, theologian and award-winning author Glen H. Stassen helps us to see that the revolutionary ideas in the Sermon on the Mount about loving and caring for each other, living in peace, and acting justly are not unattainable ideals but a recipe for wholeness and healing in our human relationships and deliverance from the vicious cycles that we get stuck in.

Glen H. Stassen offers a road map to any Christian who wants to take Christ's challenge and live the life he had in mind for us. Living the Sermon on the Mount provides a more complete picture of Jesus, of what he was all about, and the kind of life he wanted his followers to lead. It also gives a glimpse into the God who sent him—a God who is present and active in the world, bringing us deliverance and healing. The Sermon on the Mount describes a God who is always doing new things, who is worthy of our trust and loyalty because of the depth of his love, mercy, and compassion. Once we come to truly believe in this God, our minds and hearts will open to Jesus' radical teachings.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (July 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787977365
• ISBN-13: 978-0787977368
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh Approach to the "Sermon on the Mount", January 11, 2007

By 

Paul E. Wrenn Jr. (Jacksonville, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance (Enduring Questions in Christian Life) (Hardcover)

The author provides the reader with two very important tools: First, an understanding that the Sermon on the Mount is not a moral code or legal requirements for those who follow Christ, but is rather a portrait of those who have experience 'new life' in Christ and as John 15 indicates "abide" in Him. Second, a method by which Matthew 5-7 can come alive in individual or small group study that focuses on "living" the truth found in Jesus' words on the "mountain". It is an excellent grasp of the material and presented clearly with appropriate commentary and illustrations.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'productive' account of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, May 19, 2008

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Paul Prestidge (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance (Enduring Questions in Christian Life) (Hardcover)

Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance (Enduring Questions in Christian Life)

Stassen's lovely little book does exactly what the title suggests: provides a practical reading of Jesus' most famous sermon. As such it represents the obvious conclusion to his (I think) ground-breaking exegetical work on Matt 5-7, which has countered the tendency to idealise Jesus' teaching. The triadic pattern he argues that Matthew uses, forms the basic thesis of the book which amounts to Jesus calling his followers to adopt "transformative initiatives" in the way they live out key aspects of their lives. Such life style transformations really are possible because the prophesied Kingdom has drawn near in Jesus, gifting disciples with faith to break the old cycles of sinful failure and begin experiencing the joyful life of the coming kingdom. Embracing Jesus' teaching in the SOM, argues Stassen, isn't heroic as with the Catholic tradition or impossible as often characterised in the wake of Luther. It's practical, wise stuff Jesus is teaching - given that the Kingdom has now drawn near to us through Jesus.

I've found Stassen's diagrams of the triadic structures in this book very helpful in trying to re-cast (often unconscious) understandings of the SOM held by folk in my Presbyterian tradition. It's a practical, readable but very serious wee book which should be a breath of fresh air for those longing to see more authentic discipleship take root in their Christian community.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Practical and Holistic Way of Life, January 3, 2008

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A. Webster (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance (Enduring Questions in Christian Life) (Hardcover)

Dr. Stassen takes a deep subject and presents it in a way that lay people can easily understand and relate to in their everyday life. I participate in an Episcopal Bible study group and we find the subject matter leads us in a lively and holistic discussion that we can connect with and apply to our daily lives. The book is very readable, offers diagnostic tools on how to break out of vicious cycles and provides reference notes for further study. Each person can then decide how deeply he or she wants to continue their study.

A. Webster