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[–] ccpp ago 

“Blessed is the poor in spirit.” These will be humble is their spirit, willIng to hear the spirit of God and realize their need of salvation and be grateful for the Savior. The carnal man who is self deceived in his own self righteousness can not see the meanings of the word of God. Pray he opens your heart and mind..

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[–] chirogonemd 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago  (edited ago)

Matthew 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."

Two Gospel Hypothesis states the gospel of Matthew is dated earlier than Luke. Matthew was written first.

This does not refer directly to being economically poor. Poor in spirit refers not to a pitiable state, as in "Poor, Tommy." It refers directly to an amount of something, as in being without, in this case: pride.

The poor in spirit are low in pride.

It means that those who will enter the kingdom of Heaven are those who recognize their lack of sovereignty over their own existence, i.e. that they don't owe their own existence to themselves. They depend. They are contingent. Additionally, that also means that the potentially ongoing part of their being (what Christians take to be a soul), does not go on being after death because of them, but because of God. They are not responsible for their own eternal being, any more than they are responsible for their finite being here on Earth.

The poor in spirit recognize the need for salvation and that they cannot be the cause of their own salvation.

The economically rich are capable of being poor in spirit, although it is acknowledged that exorbitant wealth does cause challenges to living a moral life. Not in all ways, but in many crucial ones. This doesn't take a rocket scientist to grasp, only common sense.

@PeaceSeeker @antiracistmetal

@Dead-Hand I'm just asking that you try harder, man. Honestly, what was the point of this post? I suppose you take unbelief as a proxy for superior intellect. How about this? Tell everyone what is actually relevant: what you do believe about reality, and let's see how well that speaks for your intelligence.

[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

[Deleted]

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[–] chirogonemd 2 points -1 points (+1|-2) ago 

Smug atheism...so hot right now. Coming to a D&D party near you!

@PeaceSeeker @antiracistmetal

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[–] antiracistMetal 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

let's see how well that speaks for your intelligence.

lol

[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

[Deleted]

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[–] chirogonemd 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago  (edited ago)

If you want to take these things at a surface-level analysis, be my guest. Simpletons will have their simple answers. Ethics is a complex subject that comes later, after metaphysics. If you gain a metaphysical understanding of Christianity, and work from the ground up, these sayings will have a different significance for you. But if you'd like to take them at the exoteric level, then you'll get the understanding of them that was meant for the vulgar.

That's it. To get into more would be a big commitment that I'm not prepared to make on your behalf, because you've shown zero interest in taking any of the longer posts I've made to you seriously. You're here to swing a bat crudely and ignorantly.

But, go ahead man. Flaunt your trinkets.

It's nobody's loss except your own. I doubt if there is anyone here whose beliefs are moving because of your posts. I feel sorry if that is the case for anyone.

But I'll at least point out that the idea of aphorism is completely lost on you. Take a common aphorism: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." What does this mean? Is it meant to be taken literally, as in a guiding law presiding over every possible real case or choice in human life? Of course not. It's pithy. It is stylized exaggeration that gets a point across just because it is stylized - not only that but for the sake of teaching, it is more memorable than expressing the literal interpretation full of conditional "IF's" and "OR's". Think about a situation where "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," might apply. Maybe we're talking about whether you should update your software, or get a new car. There are all kinds of particular and minute details in any actual situation. Imagine if you tried to get all of them across in the aphorism - hint: you couldn't. And if you tried, nobody would listen to you anymore, especially a crowd of people. Hence, the need for pithy statements.

It's meant to express a general idea, and often an ideal, not a schoolroom list of rules. There is a charismatic and rhetorical element happening in these talks. They were given before a crowd.

@PeaceSeeker @antiracistmetal

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[–] Sir_Ebral 2 points 0 points (+2|-2) ago 

The poor are those who were most likely to fall for the jewish mind-virus of Christianity, and also the most numerous of the people.

It's no accident that the jews wrote especially to the poor in their jew testament.