Is Faith enough?
Other than my frustration with people seeming not to understanding why I write what I do, and failing to understand the earliest Christians weren't Southern Baptists (https://www.churchfathers.org), I think I'm generally in a good mood. Not chasing after a girl who doesn't like me (seriously, I really wish women would just tell me), or the like, for instance. Not being overly anxious (usually...) over things I have control over, and, not worrying about death. Of course, this doesn't mean that I'm in a persistent good mood. There are any host of things that tick me off.
(Before we move on, please check out my previous article; The differences between the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, more imagined than real, and please check out my latest on Locals, Addressing Gavin Ortlund's mistaken view of the Biblical Canon)
Religious rants songs (which are very uncreative), Christians that weirdly think Christianity isn't a religion (it is, Yes, Christianity is a religion ), the unwillingness of many (though, not all) people to help me get my foot fixed, and people that have to turn everything political.
But, Jesus tells us about blessedness. And, contra (or should I say contre)? The naysayers, I had a perfectly cromulent (Cromulent reason for writing this article; How older versions of the Bible can help with FRENCH GRAMMAR?!
Literally, in most versions of The Bible I've read in French, the word for “blessed” can just as easily be translated to “happy”. Evangile de Jésus-Christ selon saint Matthieu
And, this seems to have some background in Greek (though, I am one of the people who think Matthew was originally written in Aramaic). MAKARIOI
(I don't understand the inconsistent rendering that sometimes it's rendered as happy, sometimes as blessed).
Anyway, I think that both translations are possible. Of course, in English, we have this nasty habit of thinking someone is blessed when think of something they have. We mistake this for being some kind of material thing, think the (false) “prosperity gospel”. Anyway, since I left you with the beatitudes from Matthew, last time I wrote on this topic (I was kinda in a down mood at the time,The Beatitudes), I'll use them from Luke this time.
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall seperate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake,
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (Luke 6:20-23)
All verses from the King James Version, and you'll note that I actually gave the context instead of pulling random verses to prove my point. We'll get to the woes eventually.