Song and dance may be the only way to support waves in space ... forming wrinkles and dimples ... thus those shadows on the forest floor in the midst of sum Arians dream ... related to Ahriman ... initially he was hairy boo gah! Assisted in holding the bricks together ... dark threads ...
The Parable of the Talents
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Redbaron
Pirate fan since the dark ages
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Nor did he use it for any good purposes. It's like he didn't even try. He had received the gold for a purpose; his major concern was keeping it safe, rather than taking a risk. (Maybe something like those who try to save their lives will ultimately lose them?)
Everything is so unstable ... contrary to what we are often told ... is there stability somewhere?
It is beyond reality ... mostly because of mortal avarice ... alas few see it because of odd wipe-out! Periodic rest on the spot?
paradox3
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Absolutely. It kind of suggests that God expects more of us than simply resisting evil. Even the Ten Commandments have a couple of positive statements mixed in with all the Thou Shalt Nots. (Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy and honor thy mother and father.)
Well can someone explain to me why God is portrayed as a Master in this parable when Jesus tells us "he is among us as one who serves and not sitting at the head of the table?"
Is there any great leader that makes slaves of people to do their bidding instead of serving the people? I just see this master as a corrupt despot....
God is our servant and we are His.
Is there any great leader that makes slaves of people to do their bidding instead of serving the people? I just see this master as a corrupt despot....
God is our servant and we are His.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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One of the problems in our modern society that sort of fits with this is our tendency to lionize certain gifts over others. So the engineer who designs a new car engine gets valued (as in celebrated in the automotive press, paid significantly more, and so on) over the mechanics who have to maintain it. The mechanics gift for figuring out what is wrong with the wonderful new machine is just as important since it is why we can actually use the thing day-to-day, but they don't get the kind of credit the engineer does. So perhaps there's some of that here? The third servant doesn't feel valued as the other two so they just walk away from using their gift productively.
And does this relate in any way to the gifts of the Spirit we see discussed later in Paul's letters? Does God give out Spiritual gifts evenly, or are some more "gifted" than others?
Or is this more like the person who has a "gift" (let's say, gifted with mathematical ability) who fails to make use of their gifts, possibly for quite legitimate reasons? So the person who can solve differential equations in their sleep but becomes a plumber because they find mathematics boring or find university to be too much work. They accept the lower pay and social status because they actually find their gift a bit of a "burden".
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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I don't think this is meant as a comprehensive theological statement about God. It is focussed on one particular idea and God as the master giving out "gifts" is the image that fits. IOW, he used the image that fit the point he was trying to make. You can't do theology based on it beyond the meaning of this parable.
paradox3
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Many of the parables give us God in positions of power. The father, the wealthy landowner etc.
Servant leadership seems to apply to Jesus more than God.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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Given the idea of God as the transcendent creator and lawgiver of the universe, it kind of makes sense, too. But, again, I question how much you can say theologically based on one image in one parable. It's not the purpose of this parable to define God's nature (if it even can be defined, but that's a whole other discussion that I might be starting in R&F).
That surprises me.
GordW
Church-Geek-Oramus
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My sermon title for that Sunday is "Take a Risk". It seems that the story encourages us to risk, in the hope of growth, rather than play it safe to avoid loss. Mind you we don't know how the master would have responded had one of the servants taken a risk and lost money....
paradox3
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I'm surprised that you're surprised LoL
I suppose if we believe that Jesus and God are one (itself open to interpretation) then it might follow that one of them can't be a servant leader without the other.
Hmmm
I have just never thought of God as any kind of servant. It doesn't seem to go with creator, lawgiver or judge. Maybe we could argue that God as parent is exhibiting a type of servant leadership. God as father is a common enough understanding of God.
Fun to contemplate. Parables can be real mind benders.
Mendalla
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Not quite as paradoxical as a Buddhist koan, but perhaps with some of the same methodology: Force people to think and break their existing sense of reality to some degree.
BetteTheRed
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*laughs heartily* You have clearly never sat in on any Bible Study I've ever attended. I don't think it's just my little congregation that appears to have pretty well no theological answers to anything.
Because I'm going to take this one down a real rabbit hole, as follows:
Another view of the parable from a writer from The Biblical Archaeology Society (link to article here). The relevant quote:
"Richard L. Rohrbaugh examines the Parable of the Talents’ meaning in his Biblical Views column “Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes” in the September/October 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Although the story itself is fairly straightforward, Rohrbaugh argues that the Parable of the Talents’ meaning is less clear. An ancient audience would have interpreted it differently than a modern one.
The Talents’ parable has typically been interpreted by the Western church as being about proper investment: Jesus’ disciples are urged to use their abilities and gifts to serve God—without reservation and without fear of taking risks. Rohrbaugh, however, argues that the Talents’ parable is all about exploitation. Whereas a modern, Western audience would applaud the first two slaves for trading and investing well, an ancient audience would have approved of the third slave’s behavior and condemned that of the first two slaves because they profited at the expense of others. Rohrbaugh explains:
This interpretation of the Parable of the Talents’ meaning casts the actions of the first two slaves as shameful and that of the third slave as honorable."
So there you are. Another view. Note the use of the word banker in the original text. I think that is a much more pejorative term in the cultural context than it is currently.
jimkenney12
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And I do not believe Jesus intended his audience to equate the master to God.
BetteTheRed
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"the “limited good” outlook of ancient Mediterranean cultures, seeking “more” was considered morally wrong. Because the pie was “limited” and already all distributed, anyone getting “more” meant someone else got less. Thus honorable people did not try to get more, and those who did were automatically considered thieves: To have gained, to have accumulated more than one started with, is to have taken the share of someone else."
In other words, in a world not run by modern capitalism, i.e. requiring constant expansion. The economic theory to which a culture subscribes, and currently, globally, it purports to be global market capitalism, is much more important to understanding that culture than people realize.
Another note, though, is that the two classes of people that appeared most drawn to Jesus, tax collectors and prostitutes, both acquire funds through means disapproved of by the Jewish culture of the day. Tax collectors, if honest, gave all the money they collected to the Romans, and made nothing for themselves. At best, they were collaborators with the enemy, Rome. At worst, they charged exhorbitant collection rates and made themselves rich, at the expense of their fellow Jews. And prostitutes were condemned because for some strange reason, across many cultures, people disapprove of women profiting off a limited rental agreement of a body owned presumably by it's inhabiting mind/spirit.
In other words, in a world not run by modern capitalism, i.e. requiring constant expansion. The economic theory to which a culture subscribes, and currently, globally, it purports to be global market capitalism, is much more important to understanding that culture than people realize.
Another note, though, is that the two classes of people that appeared most drawn to Jesus, tax collectors and prostitutes, both acquire funds through means disapproved of by the Jewish culture of the day. Tax collectors, if honest, gave all the money they collected to the Romans, and made nothing for themselves. At best, they were collaborators with the enemy, Rome. At worst, they charged exhorbitant collection rates and made themselves rich, at the expense of their fellow Jews. And prostitutes were condemned because for some strange reason, across many cultures, people disapprove of women profiting off a limited rental agreement of a body owned presumably by it's inhabiting mind/spirit.
That's interesting, pretty well lines up with my line of thoughts above, but t doesn't necessarily make it right, could even suggest there are a variety of depths to a parable.
What is your reasoning please?