Who are (the) Blessed? Reflections on the Relecture of the Beatitudes in the New Testament and the Apocryfa
Who are (the) Blessed? Reflections on the Relecture of the Beatitudes in the New Testament and the Apocryfa

Summary/Abstract: The essay proposes a reflection on the process of relecture through which the beatitudes, originally most likely belonging to the genre of prophetic speech, were gradually read as moral precepts, and subsequently as ascetic guidelines. In the Gospel of Thomas it is the elected disciple to be proclaimed blessed, notwithstanding external persecution and internal struggle. In the Acts of Paul those who give up this world, in the form of most radical ascetism, will benefit from the exquisite heavenly reward reserved to the chosen. The ongoing relecture of the authentic sayings in Q, in the canonical gospels and in the apocrypha also results in the reinterpretation of Jesus’ identity.

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