The History of Christianity: Consisting of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth; the Adventures of Paul and the Apostles; and the Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
The History of Christianity: Consisting of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth; the Adventures of Paul and the Apostles; and the Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Church history; Jesus Christ -- Biography; Paul, the Apostle, Saint
The Horns of Hattin.――The Sermon on the Mount.――Jesus goes to
Capernaum.――The Miraculous Draught of Fishes.――Healing the Leper,
the Paralytic.――Associates with Publicans and Sinners.――The
Feast of the Passover.――The Cripple at the Pool.――The Equality
of the Son with the Father.――Healing the Withered Hand.――Anger
of the Pharisees.――The Twelve Apostles chosen.――Inquiry of John
the Baptist.――Jesus dines with a Pharisee.――The Anointment.
――Journey through Galilee.――Stilling the Tempest.――The Demoniacs
and the Swine.――The Daughter of Jairus.――Restores Sight to the
Blind.――Address to his Disciples.
ABOUT seven miles south of Capernaum there was a double-peaked eminence,
fifty or sixty feet high, which commanded a charming view of the Valley
of Gennesaret. These peaks were called the Horns of Hattin, from the
village of Hattin, situated at the base of the hill. As Jesus, upon his
return from his first circuit through Galilee, approached Capernaum,
when the throng which accompanied him, or flocked out of the city to
meet him, had become immense, he probably ascended this hill, from
which he could easily address them. For ages it has been called, on
that supposition, the “Hill of the Beatitudes.”
It must have presented a charming scene. The smooth and grassy hill
rose from a landscape luxuriant with verdure, draped with vineyards,
and rich in the autumnal hues of harvest. The waters of the lake
sparkled in the sunlight, and the distant horizon was fringed with
towering mountains. Jesus sat upon the summit of the hill: his avowed
disciples gathered affectionately around: the multitude, presenting a
sea of upturned faces, thronged the grassy slopes.
It was then and there that Jesus delivered that Sermon on the Mount,
which, by universal admission, is the most memorable discourse ever
uttered by human lips. Probably in a voice which penetrated the
remotest ear, he enunciated those sublime truths, which, for eighteen
centuries, have echoed through human hearts, and which will continue
thus to echo, with ever-increasing power, until the flames of the last
conflagration shall envelop our globe.
He first announced the conditions of entrance into the new kingdom
of God. Its gates were to be open to the lowly in heart; to those
weeping over their own unworthiness, and hungering and thirsting for
righteousness. Those qualities which were most despised by Jewish pride
and pharisaic self-righteousness were the ones upon which God looked
with love and a blessing.
He then declared the law of the kingdom of God, showing that, instead
of abrogating the old covenant, it did but re-establish its principles,
and supplement its imperfections, by carrying moral obligations beyond
all external observances, into the inner regions of the heart.
With amazement this motley assemblage must have listened to
announcements so contrary to the whole spirit of the age; as,――
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