JACKSON, Tenn. — March 26, 2024 — Jonathan Pennington, professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke on the importance, purpose and context of the Sermon on the Mount.
Pennington was the featured speaker at 51社区鈥檚 2024 Spring Bible Conference March 22-23, presented by the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies.
鈥淛ulian, Augustine, you name it 鈥� they all talk about how this sermon is really key to understanding the rest of the Bible, that it鈥檚 the center of it,鈥� Pennington said. 鈥淚t is so influential, that the way that people read it affects their whole theology.鈥�
Pennington spoke in four sessions on the Sermon on the Mount, showing it to be a guide for Christian living as well as key to understanding Jesus鈥� teaching. The Friday night plenary was an 鈥淚ntroduction to the Greatest Sermon in the World,鈥� discussing the sermon鈥檚 context and the Beatitudes.
鈥淭here are so, so many sayings from the Sermon on the Mount that have woven their way into all of society,鈥� Pennington said. 鈥淭hey have influenced ones that aren鈥檛 Christian at all.鈥�
Pennington said the Sermon on the Mount is a piece of wisdom literature like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. In it, Jesus instructs his disciples on how to live a good life, starting with the Beatitudes.
Pennington said the word 鈥渂eatitude鈥� comes from the Latin word 鈥渂eatus鈥� that Jerome used in the opening passage of the sermon in the Vulgate. This word does not mean 鈥渂lessed,鈥� as the English Bible translates, but no longer has a direct English translation.
鈥溾�楤eatus鈥� translates to something more like 鈥榟appy,鈥欌�� Pennington explained. 鈥淲hat I think probably is the best word for that is 鈥榝lourishing鈥� or 鈥榯hriving鈥� 鈥� 鈥榓bundant life,鈥� like it says in John 10:10.鈥�
Pennington said that the archaic English term 鈥渕acarism鈥� is similar to 鈥渂eatitude.鈥� Macarisms are sayings of a telling students how to live well. In the same way, the Beatitudes help direct Jesus鈥� disciples to live according to his teachings.
鈥淕od is constantly inviting us into a life of flourishing 鈥� inviting us with wisdom,鈥� Pennington said. 鈥淓veryone is offering you a vision for how to find the good life, and Jesus is not afraid to address this because he has come to bring men life and bring it abundantly.鈥�
Pennington also said proper context is important for reading both the Beatitudes and the whole of the Sermon on the Mount to interpret it correctly. This includes the Matthew鈥檚 literary context, which explains the structure of the chapters; the canonical context, placing it as a part of the whole of Scripture; and the Greco-Roman philosophical context, showing the sermon was influenced by the world it was in.
鈥淲e really have to pay attention to the multiple contexts in which the sermon appears,鈥� Pennington said. 鈥淏ecause I have really come to see that one of the main ways it is misunderstood is when people divorce it from these contexts.鈥�
Michael Tankersley, a junior biblical studies and languages major and Pennington鈥檚 introducer, said attending the plenary provided valuable direction for studying the Sermon on the Mount.
鈥淭his was incredibly helpful,鈥� Tankersley said. 鈥淚 really appreciated the metaphors he used 鈥� they really brought life into words that were very common to me as somebody who鈥檚 been in church.鈥�
The conference also included four parallel sessions which focused on interpreting and applying Scripture. These were led by Kelvin Moore and Justin Wainscott, faculty members in Union鈥檚 School of Theology and Missions; Benjamin Quinn, associate professor of theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Russ Quinn, associate pastor at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson.
