7.1.3 Application/Discussion

Interpretations on the fulfill-ability of the commandments of the Sermon on the Mount:

1. Catholic Church
   1. Since the Middle Ages, there has been a differentiation between the commandments that apply to all people and those that only apply to priests and other members of religious communities. So called “consilia evangelica” (evangelical advice) of the Sermon on the Mount
2. Luther:
   1. Two Kingdoms teaching (better called two dominions)
   2. The Sermon on the Mount applies to private life. For example, in the case of a judge, these admonishments to love would apply to his personal life but not to his professional tasks, where the demands of justice may be more important. 
3. Thomas Müntzer and the “Left Wing” of the Reformation 
   1. The Sermon on the Mount is an achievable social lesson
   2. Ex-Chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt, in contrast, stated that “you can’t govern with the Sermon on the Mount.” 
4. Liberal Theology: Example – Albert Schweitzer
   1. The Sermon on the Mount is to be understood as an “ethic of the end-times.”
5. Liberal Theology: Example: W.Hermann, R. Bultmann
   1. The Sermon on the Mount is meant to be a call to new way of thinking
6. Lutheran Orthodoxy
   1. The Sermon on the Mount is merely a judgement sermon since its demands are unfulfillable 
7. Dialectical Theology: For example: E. Thurneysen
   1. The Sermon on the Mount is a Christ-Annunciation (because only Jesus himself could fulfill it)