Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner's Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven

by Amy-Jill Levine

Publisher:

Abingdon Press

, 2020

Overview

The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, contains some of Jesus most profound and most memorable teachings. What might these teachings have mean to his disciples, and to the others who first heard them? How do they enhance our reading of the rest of the Gospel of Matthew, and how do they speak across the centuries to listeners today? How, if we pay careful attention to his words, does Jesus provide us a road map to living as God would have us live?


In Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine introduces the major topics in the Sermon on the Mount, explains historical and theological contexts, and shows how the words of Jesus echo his Jewish tradition and speak forward to reach hearts and minds today.


This book provides a rich and challenging learning experience for the individual reader and also makes a wonderful, six-week group study with the additional Leader Guide, DVD, and 40-day readings

Key Features

High-quality DVD with six 10-minute teaching sessions with Dr. Levine building on the topics and themes discussed in the book.

The small group Leader Guide contains session outline for each group meeting with Scripture, prayer, opening activity, discussion questions, activity, and ending call to action.

Provides tools to help pastors, group leaders, and study groups encounter the teachings of Jesus through component guides and a six-session DVD.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The kingdom of heaven occurs when people take the words of Jesus in these chapters to heart and live into them.” (source)

“Despite the popular view that ‘poor in spirit’ means ‘weak in faith,’ that is not what Matthew’s phrase means. Nor does it mean simply not being conceited or prideful. ‘Poor in spirit’ is in part a synonym for the people who have enough humility that they do not operate from a sense of pride: the poor in spirit are those who recognize that they are both the beneficiaries of the help of others and part of a system in which they are to pay it forward and help those whom they can. Poor in spirit are those who do not sit around saying, ‘Look at what I’ve accomplished,’ or worse, feel resentful because they have not received what they consider sufficient honor. They know they did the right thing; they know God knows, and that’s sufficient recognition indeed.” (source)

“We know from both Jewish and pagan sources that disciples are active learners: they ask questions, they seek clarification, they raise objections, they seek to take their teacher’s comments to the next level.” (source)

“To mourn is to say, ‘I loved this person, and I desperately miss this person’—a heart that knows how to grieve is a heart that knows how to love.” (source)

“the Sermon on the Mount is in fact a beginner’s guide to the kingdom of heaven.” (source)

Product Details

• Title : Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner's Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven
• Author: Levine, Amy-Jill
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Publication Date: 2020
• ISBN: 9781501899904

About Amy-Jill Levine

Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Department of Religious Studies, and Graduate Department of Religion. Holding a B.A. from Smith College, an M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, and honorary Doctorates from the University of Richmond and the Episopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Levine has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. She has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. Her most recent publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus; the edited collection, The Historical Jesus in Context; and the fourteen-volume series, Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings. She has recorded “Introduction to the Old Testament,” “Great Figures of the Old Testament,” and “Great Figures of the New Testament” for the Teaching Company’s “great lectures” series. A self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” Levine combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies.