Sermon on the Mount: Foundation for Understanding

This commentary is designated as a critical-historical commentary which deliberately contrasts the more familiar historical-critical commentary which often connotes a school of thought, whereas, the historical-critical sets out to examine the Scriptures purely historically without recognizing that the controlling influence of a 19th century positivistic approach to history had polluted their pure history from the outset which resulted in an overly skeptical treatment of the Scriptures. Thus, this commentary offers a critical exegesis in that it makes use of the literary and historical critical tools including text, source, form, tradition, redaction, and structural criticism.