The meek shall inherit the earth

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No they didn’t serve at all, they claimed status as conscientious objectors which is a real gripe i’ve always had them. There’s nothing morally superior about getting others to do your dirty work for you. I understood this basic fact of life from a young age and was one of the many reasons i never embraced the fundamentalist Protestantism i was bought up around. I’d actually respect them more if they just admitted they were scared and were cowards in that moment. We all have flaws and make decisions we regret, i’ve done plenty of cowardly things but it’s the constant defence of it that i find repulsive. Bit of a rabbit hole but just wanted to make the point clear.
 
stupidisasstupiddoes said:
I’ve always disliked this kind of verse because it appears to give licence to cowardice
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The intention was not to give the mere meaning of the word meek ,that would be absurd ,the emphasis was the act ,the word meek was put in a negative light and in a worldly point of view , as Jesus was meek and humble doesn’t mean he’s cowardice or as Jordan Peterson is giving a world’s understanding of the word meek which is absolutely wrong,where as Jesus through obedience unto death has courageously conquered,by his meekness. It is to know who you are, where you are coming from, and where you are going; as Jesus did. It is to be at home in your own skin and not to be afflicted with the itching envy of somebody else’s life. It is to be free enough inside that lowliness is as easy as power since you are not defined by what you or anybody else owns or does or is. To be meek, in short, is to be free. And to be free is find that the whole world is yours already, freely given by the Lord of heaven and earth—as St. Francis knew.

Jesus makes two remarks that bear on this sense of interior freedom and confidence that is the true mark of meekness. First, he says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Second, he comments that men of violence tried to take the kingdom of heaven by force (Luke 16:16). The paradox of this is that Heaven is impregnable to such people while it is wide open to his “little flock.” Why? Because you cannot kick down a door that stands wide open. It is the poor in spirit, the people who don’t think they have the “right” to heaven, the simple, the humble, the gentle, who find, to their astonishment, that Heaven has come looking for them with an invitation engraved on the hands of the Host who died to win it for them. While men of violence are off killing people and blowing up buildings to establish Heaven on earth, Heaven himself is quietly welcoming the wounded, the weak, the foolish, and victims that these ubermenschen have trampled in their pride.
 
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Those who are meek—who are so comfortable in their skin that they can lay down their pride and be the least—are not weak but almost inconceivably strong. When St. Maximilien Kolbe lays down his life for a fellow inmate at Auschwitz, it is not the Nazi executioners who are in charge. It is the victim. For a similar reason, Paul says that Jesus “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11). In the worst act of injustice in the history of the world, it is the victim, not the victimizer, who is in charge precisely because he knows his life is at the disposal of his Father. That is why Jesus says of his life, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18).God Bless
 
I understand what you are saying but there are some dangerous possibilities with the possibles interpretations of that. I’m not saying you made them though. Take Auschwitz as a good example, yes i agree with what you said but as a historian i believe it is beyond reasonable doubt that World War Two was and extremely unnecessary / avoidable war. Therefore, there’s a risk that people glorifying the victim create more victims. In other words, whilst it is a wonderful act of morality to lay down your life for another man, there is no morality in a war killing 50m people if it could have been prevented, which i content it could have. The very reasons it happened were the cowardice of some against the risk taking of the belligerents. Oskar Schindler did some wonderful things to save as many Jews as he could but let’s not forget that the Holocaust should have never happened.
 
the word "meek’ is strength and power under control. Also, it is commonly used when describing the breaking of a wild horse, therefore it becomes obedient and consequently would be more gentle along with many other good qualities. This was confusing to me for years and I’m glad someone brought this up. There is no weakness in meekness.
 
I think the guy submitting the dictionary definition of meek makes a good case.

The reason meek is a good translation is because the definition of what the word really means (although not how it used today) is related to “endurance.” It is kinda related to restraint anyway.

There is also more to a word than its root, so “meek” might be good.

I think the real problem here is the way the English language changes. Understanding an English Bible, it is important to know that the English words “jealousy” and “envy” mean distinctly different things, although used interchangeably in common speech. It is important that when the KJV says “Thou shalt not kill,” it is not really a bad translation - “kill” used to mean “murder” in English.

As our language changes, our translations get strained. Nature of the beast.
 
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And with the holocaust example, meekness is not a static attitude, but a virtue, as it used in the New Testament.

When the situation calls for it, we must excercise different virtues. Chastity cannot be excercised while conceiving a child, although the man is chaste; courage cannot be excercise while hedging your bets, although the man is courageous; meekness may not be excercised while fighting Achilles and the Greeks, although Hector was meek - just look at him with wife and child.

We maintain our virtues, but like our muscles, rarely do we excercise all of them at once.
 
Silly to go back and forth about what it means based on linguistics or literal aspects…why not use it as a passage for Lectio Divina and see how it speaks to you, and what action it calls you to take?
 
I would also say that I agree with Peter Kreeft although his comments are not exhaustive.

how do the meek inherit the Earth? It may be that if we accept the world as God intends us to, no matter what happens, the world is ours. Because “Christ already conquered the world.” We thus restrain our attempts to control by letting God take the helm. And we now have the Earth. If our needs are few and we consider ourselves inheritors of God, we have the Earth.

Accepting life does not mean passivity. It doesn’t mean LITERALLY throwing up our hands and screaming “Jesus take the wheeeeeeeel!” It means embracing and accepting LIFE with all its duties and challenges and demands.

We often struggle with calls to faith and trust and relying on God, and calls to work that really does matter. The reality is the way we embrace faith in our God is by being faithful and doing our duty. Because I trust him, I follow his commands.

Which may include “As always, kill Hitler!”
 
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As i said, the ones I’m talking about didn’t even do non-combatant roles, they stayed at home and let others secure their freedom for them
 
Interesting so envy is wanting something someone has whilst jealousy is the fear someone will take something you already have away?
 
GodSoughtMe said:
When the situation calls for it, we must excercise different virtues.
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This is what i find massively lacking in the people that took great pride in their definition of “meek”. It wasn’t really that they were virtuous, they were more cowards with very low desire for anything other than the quiet life, which by process of elimination meant they didn’t sin all that often but they didn’t really do very much at all.
 
stupidisasstupiddoes said:
Interesting so envy is wanting something someone has whilst jealousy is the fear someone will take something you already have away?
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Yes, though if you try and enforce that distinction too rigidly you run the risk of being dismissed as a pedant. It’s curious that you’ll commonly see the word “jealous” where strictly it ought to be “envious,” though never the other way around. The words “envy” and “envious” seem to have dropped out of polite speech as being too forceful.
 
stupidisasstupiddoes said:
This is what i find massively lacking in the people that took great pride in their definition of “meek”.
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That says it all, really. Being overconfident that you’re the only one who has understood the Beatitudes correctly and being overassertive in your insistence that everyone else has to use the word to mean what you tell them it means, is hardly consistent with practicing the virtue of meekness.
 
I have another thread about probability and life decisions: Probability and Life Choices - #15 by Tis_Bearself this thread has certainly helped my understanding that being virtuous is not just about rendering yourself incapable of sin (i.e. having no power). But is that contradicted by Jesus saying to cut off a hand if it caused you to sin?
 
Per http://www.sensustraditionis.org/Virtues.pdf list of the Moral Virtues and vices contra.

Clemency or Meekness: Moderation of the Delight of Vindication (Of Anger).

This seems to define it has having power, yet refraining from exercising it in anger. The opposite of meekness would perhaps be vindictiveness.

“And learn from me; for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt 11:29)

In regards to translations, I have zero experience in Greek and wouldn’t be much help.
 
Excellent, i like that a lot; the opposite of meek is vindictive
 
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