Blessed are the poor

Niebuhr has this nice harmonization of the Matthean and Lukan beatitude to the poor: “Both versions are necessary to catch the full flavor of the beatitude. For the Lukan version alone would make poverty a guarantee of virtue, particularly of the virtue of humility, which it is not. The Matthean version alone, however, misses the ‘existential element.’ It might encourage the idea that humility of spirit is unrelated to the fortunes of life. It is related. Those who succeed in life, whether by acquisition of power, wealth, or wisdom, do incline to value their achievements too highly and to forget the fragmentary character of all human achievements. The Matthean version alone would make the other word of Christ, ‘How hardly will those that are rich enter the kingdom of heaven,’ meaningless. It is a necessary word which emphasizes the moral hazards of success.”