{"product_id":"9780918954763","title":"The Sermon on the Mount: A Theological Investigation","description":"This revised edition of Carl Vaught's theological   investigation of the Sermon on the Mount begins with   the assumption that the text cannot be understood apart   from a transformation of the human spirit. The stages of   this transformation are outlined in the Beatitudes; and   against this background, the book comes to focus on the   perfection that Jesus demands from his followers. The   perfection in question is not an abstract ideal, but points   to our need to become mature, and by implication, to move   toward the goal for which we are intended.\u003cp\u003e      Vaught's study is a theological attempt to explore some of   the ways in which perfection can be achieved. By contrast   with this way of approaching the text, many interpretations   of the Sermon on the Mount are atomistic, generating an   interpretive standpoint that presupposes that the text is   a collection of fragments. In this book, Vaught pays careful   attention to the original language of the text, but also a  ssumes that it has a unity that transcends the fragmentation   it has often been thought to reflect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e      The text moves from the Beatitudes, through simple   illustrations about salt and light, to indications about   the way in which Jesus fulfills and transcends the religious   tradition from which he comes. In the Sermon on the Mount, we   also find suggestions about how we can deal with the practical   problems of murder and anger, adultery and divorce, the problem   of retaliation, and the problem of learning how to respond to   our enemies. Finally, just as the Lord's Prayer is at the center   of the Sermon, it is at the center of Vaught's interpretation of   it; and just as the text concludes by challenging us to build our   lives upon a rock, this book concludes by focusing on the ways   in which Jesus is the rock that makes divine perfection   accessible.\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarl G. Vaught currently serves as Distinguished Professor of   Philosophy at Baylor University. A graduate of Baylor and   Yale Universities, Vaught taught for more than thirty years   at Penn State University.  He is the author of \u003ci\u003eEssays in   Metaphysics, The Quest for Wholeness\u003c\/i\u003e, and the forthcoming   \u003ci\u003eAugustine's Confessions: The Language of God and the Soul\u003c\/i\u003e.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Baylor University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47028596244720,"sku":"9780918954763","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780918954763_p0.jpg?v=1769914170","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780918954763","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}