Why People Hate the Sermon on the Mount →

This is a bit of a down-the-rabbit-hole reference: Andy Naselli tracked down a paper by Virginia Stem Owens that Tim Keller quoted in a sermon at TGC. It’s a fascinating insight into the effects of biblical illiteracy on those hearing Scripture:

Beyond that, however, I find it strangely heartening that, except for the young man who found the Sermon on the Mount a guide to good manners, the Bible remains offensive to honest, ignorant ears, just as it was in the first century. For me, that somehow validates its significance. Whereas the scriptures almost lost their characteristically astringent flavor during the past century, the current widespread biblical illiteracy should catapult us into a situation more nearly approximating that of their original, first-century audience.

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