The Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the book of Matthew, beginning with the third verse of the fifth chapter and ending with the twenty-seventh verse of the seventh chapter, is not a mere collection of unrelated sayings of Jesus, as careless readers may suppose, but studied in the light of Christian Science it is seen to be a masterpiece of logical statement, which in clearness of expression, coherence of thought, and grandeur of conception is unsurpassed in literature.
In Science and Health (p. 14) we read, "The thunder of Sinai and the Sermon on the Mount are pursuing and will overtake the ages, rebuking in their course all error and proclaiming the kingdom of heaven on earth." The subject of this discourse of the Master is the kingdom of heaven. Its opening theme is the promises of the kingdom. These are known as the beatitudes, and comprise the first ten verses. The second theme, developed in the later beatitudes and finding its climax in the four verses which follow, may be termed the responsibilities of citizenship in the kingdom. The third theme, occupying the remainder of the fifth chapter of Matthew, is the law of the kingdom of heaven and its relation to human law and conduct.
Here it may be said that classification is unessential to the facts classified. It is superimposed for the purpose of making more evident certain relationships among the facts, its usefulness for this purpose being its only justification. This applies to the outline of the Sermon on the Mount here presented, for which outline neither authority nor complete originality is claimed.
