Mount and Mountain: A Reverend and a Rabbi Talk about the Sermon on the Mount

Here’s the story: a reverend and a rabbi start a blog. In 2008, Baptist minister Michael Smith and Jewish rabbi Rami M. Shapiro began a virtual conversation via blogspot.com. Called Mount and Mountain, the blog recorded a long-running dialogue between Mike and Rami in which the pair interpreted, argued about, and interrogated two key texts drawn from the canons of their respective religions: the Ten Commandments from the Torah, and the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of St. Matthew. This book, focused on the Sermon on the Mount, represents the second half of Mike and Rami’s dialogue. In it, Mike and Rami explore the text of Jesus’ sermon cooperatively, contributing perspectives drawn from their lives and religious traditions and seeking moments of illumination. They are, like all of us, audience members, contemplating the words of Jesus together in the hope that we can discern Truth not only through revelation but also through conversation. As readers, we are a part of their conversation. We think and respond, we question and wonder, we entertain doubt and affirm faith. Reading their discussion, we are encouraged to begin our own.