Alma 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Such love is exceedingly difficult to feel and to practice when one has been wronged, and particularly when the wrong is ongoing. \u00a0But it\u2019s clearly the path of Christian discipleship laid out by the Savior himself.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m reminded of an anecdote about Abraham Lincoln: \u00a0In the wake of the American Civil War, or, at least, as that terrible war was drawing to its conclusion, an associate faulted him for the lenient treatment that he recommended for the leaders and soldiers of the Confederacy. \u00a0\u201cWe must destroy our enemies!\u201d thundered the critic. \u00a0\u201cBut,\u201d Lincoln responded, \u201cdo I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I would like, though, to comment for a few lines on the last verse in today\u2019s reading: \u00a0\u201cBe ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In grammar, \u201cperfect\u201d verbs indicate completed acts, finished action, as opposed to an action that continues or a process that isn\u2019t yet concluded. \u00a0This, I think, is related to the Greek adjective teleoi<\/em>, which is translated here by the English perfect<\/em>. \u00a0Compare the German adjective\u00a0vollkommen<\/em>, which is typically also translated as perfect<\/em> and which, since Martin Luther\u2019s great 1545 translation, has been the usual German translation of teleioi<\/em> in Matthew 5:48. \u00a0The word vollkommen<\/em> literally means something like \u201cfully come,\u201d \u201ccompletely arrived.\u201d \u00a0Think of James 1:4 and its \u201cperfect and entire, wanting nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Teleioi<\/em> (sg. teleios<\/em>) can also be translated as \u201cinitiated,\u201d as in the rites of the ancient Greek \u201cmysteries\u201d \u2014 a very interesting fact that deserves its own careful analysis someday.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The closely related Greek word telos<\/em> signifies a \u201cnatural end.\u201d \u00a0For instance, it\u2019s the natural end of an acorn to become an oak. \u00a0Aristotle placed a great deal of weight on this idea of \u201cnatural ends,\u201d and we still have the word teleology<\/em> today as a result of it.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
So we can perhaps say that being teleios<\/em> is to be \u201cmature,\u201d to have arrived at the natural end or condition for which one has been \u201cintended.\u201d \u00a0And, in Matthew 5:48, it seems that it\u2019s our natural end to grow up to be like our Heavenly Father, just as earthly children grow up, unless something intervenes, to be like their parents.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the apostle Paul taught on Mars Hill in Athens, we are God\u2019s \u201coffspring,\u201d his genos<\/em>\u00a0(Acts 17:28-29). \u00a0The Greek word genos<\/em> is obviously closely related to the Latin and English genus<\/em>, and, for that matter, to English kin<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.\u201d (Romans 8:16-17; compare Galatians 4:7)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Matthew 5:38-48 Compare Luke 6:27-36 \u00a0 A very memorable passage. \u00a0(There are, of course, few if any sayings of Jesus in the gospels that aren\u2019t memorable.) \u00a0 First of all, there is his description of radical Christian love, directed even at enemies. \u00a0Such love can sometimes even stop an enemy in his or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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