[Magdalen] Who are ‘the least of these’? Scholars say they may not be the poor - Religion News Service

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Since the views in Matthew are almost certainly the views of the writer of
Matthew, they probably ought to be read in that light.  While Jesus very
likely was referring to the poor in the event recollected in Matthew, it
would not be surprising to see a skew in the writing in favor of the
persecuted.

I found it fascinating how one writer would cite a phrase used, asserting
that this clearly means such-and-such (even when someone else says, "well,
actually, that's not quite true), and someone else cites surrounding
language as compelling evidence for what the text means, and others
speculate that Jesus is talking about the Jews being persecuted.  And each
of them is just not seeing the others' point.

None of them has the full story; none of them has an airtight case.  The
sensible thing would be to say, "We are not positive what precisely Jesus
may have meant, if he said something like this. decades before the writer
recorded it. Here are some possible interpretations ...."  I find it
maddening that a person says (regardless of his POV!) "This is the correct
view."  I don't trust this sort of discourse, because it is impossible to
know what you are hearing is the full story, and odds are that it's not.
All of these folks (except one noteworthy fellow who finds all views
potentially supported -- good for him ! ) hold back that which
inconveniences them.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 10:02 AM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Wow... Any thoughts on this *interesting* bombshell?  What think yea in
> the pub?
> Lynn
>
>
> http://www.religionnews.com/2015/05/26/least-scholars-say-may-not-poor/?email=houstonklr%40gmail.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Slingshot+Papal+pizza+nun+on+the+run+veiled+threat&utm_content=The+Slingshot+Papal+pizza+nun+on+the+run+veiled+threat+CID_32fdf6fe6759c4555237080319be2713&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Mother%20Teresas%20least%20of%20these%20may%20not%20have%20been%20the%20poor
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone