Basic Christian knowledge includes Jesus? Sermon on the Mount as his most significant, programmatic Speech, regardless of the academic question how much of it is Jesus himself and how much was added by the Evangelist Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount never had its effect as a historical document, but as a historical challenge. Francis of Assisi lived it, Luther loved it, Leo Tolstoi, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King have based their peace programme?s on it. At the centre of the primary interpretation lies the principle question of feasibility of Jesus? propositions. The most important parts are interpreted dictum by dictum and drawing by drawing, focusing on the question of justice, that keeps the chapters and verses together. The Sermon on the Mount is more than a cool, factual instruction. It is a personal and societal provocation.
