The term
"beatitude" refers to "a whole body of sayings with a similar literary form.
Such sayings, found in Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish literature, are technically
known as macarisms (from the Greek makarios, 'blessed' or 'happy')."
Within the entire New Testament there are 37 beatitudes, seventeen of which are
regarded as sayings of Jesus (although their authenticity is questioned by some
biblical scholars). The eight such sayings of Christ in Matthew's Sermon on
the Mount [entire sermon: three chapters, 109 verses] are called the
"Beatitudes," with four parallels found in the corresponding Sermon on the
Plain from Luke [a briefer sermon, one chapter, 30 verses]. The four Beatitudes
in Luke's version of the Sermon "proclaim salvation, in the form of an
eschatalogical* reversal of conditions for the dispossessed. ...the poor, the
hungry, and those who mourn are called happy, because the Kingdom of God will
be offered to them in their helplessness. ... Jesus' availability to them is a
sign of the future kingdom of God. ... They [the Beatitudes] constitute 'an
unconditional promise of salvation' and thus epitomize Jesus' good news."
[from "Beatitudes" in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992 & 1997) available
on CD-Rom] *[Note: "eschatology," "eschatalogical" (from the Greek eschatos)
refers broadly to beliefs or teachings about last or final things - such as the
end of the world, final judgment and the after-life - and sometimes their
possible implications for the present.]
Anglican
and other interpretations of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount and Luke's parallel
Sermon on the Plain - including the Beatitudes - generally "fall into one of
three categories: (a) The demands of the Sermon are to be interpreted literally
and applied absolutely in all times and situations; (b) the Sermon's demands
are to be interpreted literally but were intended to apply only to certain
limited times - such as the brief interim that Jesus expected between his
ministry and the end of the world; (c) the demands of the Scripture must be
adapted to the realities of ongoing historical existence." [from "Sermon on the
Mount" in The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics (1986), p.
575.]
With
respect to the Beatitudes and other directives having moral implications,
Anglicans/Episcopalians celebrate the God-given context for probing such
matters, namely Christ's only moral absolute, the "Summary of the Law" - noted
on page 851 of The Book of Common Prayer. Characteristically Anglican,
when confronted by a living ethical issue, we pray for clarity of mind and for
a warm heart; we inform ourselves from Scripture, Tradition, Reason and the
ongoing corporate experience of the evolving Church; and, so enlightened, we
come to revisable conclusions - often being called upon to agree to differ.
Then, we celebrate the Eucharist in which we experience in Christ our most
basic and significant unity.