Horton vs. the Sermon on the Mount (take 2!)

Thoughts of Francis Turretin ^ | May 28, 2011 | TurretinFan

[topcat54]

In a previous post, we saw how [Michael] Horton exegetically blundered in asserting that "In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus clearly abrogated the ceremonial and civil law that God had given uniquely to the nation of Israel."

Horton is at again. This time he writes:

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announces a “regime change” from the civil laws of the theocracy.

This kind of interpretation of the text (I hate to call it exegesis) demonstrates that Horton still does not understand the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount was not about regime change. The Sermon on the Mount did not discuss the civil law. It did not suggest that the civil law is obsolete, abrogated, or irrelevant. Nor did the Sermon on the Mount foretell such an event. Even if the civil law is obsolete, abrogated, or irrelevant now, that's not what the Sermon on the Mount was about.

Moreover, Jesus' teachings at the Sermon on the Mount were - at least in general - continuous with the Old Testament teachings. They express a continuity and explication, not a discontinuity.

For example, Jesus said:

[The_Reader_David]

But in modern parlance, the Sermon on the Mount *is* about regime change, from the overlordship of the Prince of This World to the Kingdom of God.