The Theology of Illness

Book excerpt: An examination of three interpretations of the most universally acknowledged piece of rhetoric in the history of the West, The Sermon on the Mount. The three interpretations examined, from the perspectives of faith and language, are: St Augustine, from the Latin and Catholic tradition; St John Chrysostom, the Greek and Orthodox tradition; and Martin Luther, the Reformation and Protestant tradition. Together and yet separately, they illuminate both the Sermon and the speaker for anyone who still takes the challenge of faith, and language, seriously.