An Exegesis of Matthew 5:3-16

Abstract

The paper will be divided into three sections. The first (I), the introduction, will explore religion vs. idolatry; a few interpretative assumptions regarding the New Testament; explication of theological method and position of the reader in the text; and finally a brief introduction to Matthew's Gospel as a component of the New Testament canon and as a work arising out of the context of first century Judaism. The second section (II) is the body of the paper: exegesis of the text. The third section (III) is an attempt to relate the text to the context of American culture and politics on the cusp of a new millennium, giving special attention to the reality of the atomic Bomb.