Beatitudes from the Back Side: A Different Take on What It Means to Be Blessed

Using his method of approaching Bible passages from an unusual angle or a unique starting point, J. Ellsworth Kalas presents new insight into the beatitudes, Jesus’ blessings from the Sermon on the Mount. When we start examining the beatitudes we realize that in Jesus’ view, happiness is not something we get by pursuing it; indeed, almost the contrary. We are told that we will be happy—or blessed, if you prefer—in what appears to be the near antithesis of happiness. If we choose to live by ...