Fundamentals of the Christian Faith in the Light of the Gospels
by Maulana Sadr-ud-Din
No Mention of Church Dogma in the Sermon on the Mount: Sermon on the Mount opposed to Teaching of Church Christianity
For example, the teaching,
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God,
is quite sufficient to give the lie direct to the doctrines of the Church Christianity. This text does not proclaim the dogma of Trinity, neither does it condemn mankind as sinful by nature. On the contrary, it teaches that man is capable of attaining purity of heart, and is, therefore, capable of having the reflection of God in the mirror of his heart. The teaching that God is pure, and with the pure only He can have His relationship, has nothing in common with the prevalent dogmas of Christianity. As against this teaching of Jesus, it amounts to discrediting and disgracing him to say that he approved of Original Sin and Atonement.
In the same way, another principle enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount,
Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God,
deserves to be carefully considered. It shows very clearly that man, by being noble and righteous, and by inspiring peace and harmony among people, can be called the son of God; also that every man, by achieving these sublime qualities, can attain this position of honour of being called the Son of God. It was only on account of having achieved these excellent qualities that Jesus, too, became worthy of being called the Son of God, and it was for this reason that the words:
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest (Luke, 1:32),
had been added to the message giving the good news of the birth of Jesus. Jesus had been generous in calling upon every man to become the son of God by acting upon his valuable advice.
“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew, 5:11–12).
In this verse, Jesus has given the glad news to those who suffer persecution in the way of God, that their’s will be a great reward in heaven. This heartening news for the faithful who suffer persecution in the way of God does not harmonise with what the modern Christianity preaches. At the same time, this fine teaching shows that Jesus classed himself with the prophets and said unto his disciples:
“If people should persecute you and me, it will be just in accordance with the law of God-suffering in the way of God brings a unique reward.”
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew, 5:6).
This observation has drawn a true picture of human nature. Man does hunger and thirst after righteousness and does hate evil, because God created man in His own image and conferred on him a nature that loves good and hates evil. This remarkable doctrine proves like others that Jesus never believed in Original Sin and the consequent Atonement.