The Beatitudes for Today

The Beatitudes for Today
By John Blanchard
Day One Publications
263 pages £7.95
ISBN 0 90254 867 0

John Blanchard has written a plain exposition and application of Matthew 5-1.12. After a slow start - three chapters on the introduction in verses 1-2 and two on verse 3 - he gives us one chapter on each Beatitude, dealing with verses 10-12 together. He writes to build up the ordinary Christian reader.
As usual with this author, the writing is crystal clear and well-ordered. Furthermore he is at his racy best, with hardly a dull moment: explanation of the text is rapidly followed by statements of doctrine, illustrations galore, good quotations, and incisive application. It is a truly excellent book. So to get home the point that mercy has defective hearing when rumours are flying around, we are reminded of Spurgeon saying: 'My blind eye is the best eye I have, and my deaf ear is the best ear I have' (page 180).
Not only so, but the quality of the doctrinal and practical content is of the highest order. The delicate relationship between justification by faith alone and the necessity of holy living is maintained, and Blanchard, while saying a lot about how to live and what to do, keeps clear of both sloppy compromise and narrow Pharisaical advice. One thing he does not keep any balance over but simply clobbers (rightly!) is the prosperity gospel; the idea that if we have enough faith or please God enough we will have wealth, long life, and earthly prosperity and success. The Beatitudes are a good opportunity to warn any guileless readers against such dangerous nonsense.
It was interesting and I must admit gratifying to see that although the author does not think that 'poor in spirit' has anything to do with material poverty, and though one would not get the impression he was overly sympathetic to socialism, he is very clear that evangelism and practical mercy to the poor belong together; he even quotes Ron Sider (of Rich Christians in an age of hunger) and David Watson with approval to this effect.
The only significant weakness of the book is a certain superficiality in its explanation of the text: at times we are treated to irrelevant word studies instead of being helped to see what the verse before us (not a word in it in various different contexts) actually means.
On the whole, though, any young Christian could benefit enormously from reading this book; indeed any not-so-young one would be well-advised to read it for a stimulating, humbling, encouraging, practical treatment of the Beatitudes in a very readable, accessible style.

Christopher Bennett

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