Fine addition to Luminaire series

A Gospel For a New People: Studies in the Sermon on the Mount Herb Kopp. Winnipeg: Kindred Productions, 2003. 216 pages.

The Luminaire Studies series, published by Kindred Productions, describes itself as designed for the discerning reader and student of the Scriptures. Herb Kopp, currently the Manitoba MB Conference minister, contributes a fine addition to the series with this treatment of the Sermon on the Mount. Kopp’s study is organized around a 5-part structure: the text; the flow and form of the text; the text explained; application/teaching/preaching points; and personal reflection.

The Anabaptist underpinnings of the interpretive task are explicitly stated early in the book, and are on display throughout. Kopp’s writing is a model of clarity, and he wears his considerable learning and experience lightly. For example, his frequent use of Greek exegesis is helpful while remaining accessible to the non-specialist reader. His writing also has a strong pastoral dimension that makes this book very useful as a resource for study groups and sermon preparation.

Several interesting issues surrounding the content of the book could be raised. Kopp rightly avoids reading the Sermon as primarily directed at the pious individual, which is part of the Anabaptist reading he provides. When he does refer to individual dimensions of the Sermon, he shows signs of being influenced by the ethics of Aristotle, especially in the areas of virtues and the notion of the “middle way.” I’m not convinced, for example, that to be poor in spirit should be described as a virtue in the Aristotelian sense – as some habit that is a dimension of personal character. Further, to think about Christian morality as a “middle way” has limitations that should be explored more fully. Some aspects of Christian morality are precisely not between two extremes, but exist on the margins.

Kopp’s work on the relationship of Jewish/Christian morality is also interesting. At times, he makes much of the novelty of Jesus’ teaching in relation to Jewish understanding of law (3). However, in a later section of the book (66–76), he provides a fine, nuanced treatment about Jesus’ continuity and discontinuity with His own Jewish take on the law, which in my view is one of the strongest sections of the book.

Further, I know Kopp to be a voracious reader of novels, biographies and so on. There are times when such material finds its way into the book to illuminate the insights gained through exegetical work, and when it does, the writing sparkles with interest and energy (for one example, see 185). I found myself wishing he had pursued these literary sources further, and wondering if the structure was a bit restrictive for such a good writer.

Many people have written about the Sermon. Some leave the reader feeling constricted and guilty; others place so many conditions on the interpretation that it is left as nothing more than an encouragement to try to do better. Kopp’s study avoids these pitfalls, and I am grateful he refuses to drain the life out of what he describes as “the most brilliantly-conceived, ethically-demanding homily ever spoken.”

Paul Doerksen, an MBCI teacher on leave, is a PhD candidate in theological ethics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. He is a member of Fort Garry MB Church, Winnipeg.