Sermon on the Mount and the Prince

Sermon on the Mount and the Prince Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the teachings of Jesus and theories of Machiavelli would see just how starkly different are the two in their approach to everything especially leadership.

Jesus was a symbol of compassion and forgiveness and in his Sermon on the Mount, he presented summary of his teachings which included the golden rule "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets" and the beatitudes such as 'the meek ..

shall inherit the earth" and "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Obviously Machiavelli wasn't the man Christ was addressing because his rules of leadership and ruling are widely different and radical. Machiavelli's political theories were grounded in that belief that a ruler, "who wants to keep his post must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires." The Christ would have lashed out against the beliefs and rules promoted by Machiavelli.

This is because while Jesus wanted an end to ruthless senseless killings and strongly condemned such acts of barbarism. Barbarism aside, Jesus did not even allow minor conflicts and grievances between people and advocated reconciliation. He said during the sermon: "You have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not commit murder" and "Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court." .

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, "You good-for-nothing," shall be guilty before the Supreme Court; and whoever says, "You fool," shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." Machiavelli on the other hand believed that man must kill freely as and when the ruler desired in order to terrorize people and remain in power.

"If you are a prince in possession of a newly acquired state and deem it necessary. To annihilate those who can or must attack you. you must do so to protect your principality." While Jesus wanted peace and declared peacemakers and meek people as inheritors of earth, Machiavelli saw these as signs of weakness and felt that no ruler could hope to achieve any success if he cared about others and refrained from using force.

He felt that if man had to resort to being a beast then he should do this to preserve himself and his power: "You must know there are two ways of contesting, the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second.

Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man." On the other hand, Jesus promoted peace and love for everyone and even asked people to love their enemies. "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on.