I agree
We were supposed to make it grow by seeking more of the Truth but many are too afraid they'll make a mistake and be condemned to hell.
We really must care for seeking more knowledge on what is true and what is false, more than saving our very souls.
Our obsession with saving our souls is ironically blocking us from seeking more of the truth.
We must love the Lord (and hence, the Truth) more than trying to save our souls. That's reality.
I understand wanting to receive more truth, studying, checking references etc; I don't understand how you can read that a parable which is about talents - money - is actually about something else entirely. Reading into a text will not result in the truth; the very thing that you say this parable is about.
First it is a parable, so it has to be interpreted.
For rich men it is hard to enter the Kingdom, so honestly how can it be referring to money, the more money you earn the better your standing with God??? Those who built bigger barns, (who had more and more money) God calls fools.
Hello. Seeking out Truth and Knowledge is good, especially when it comes to the parables of our Lord Jesus.
Have you and/or others seen this other thread on the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus concerning "
hell/hades/gehenna"?
Luke 16 "Rich Man/Poor Man" parable.....The most misunderstood/misinterpreted Parable in the NT?
This "Covenantle" parable is probably my largest study of the Bible and would like to go thru it.
This translation of
verses 19-31 is by using the T-R, a Greek interlinear, and Lexicon/Concordance.
Lazarus and the Rich Man - Here a little, there a little - Commentary
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man has been the foundation for many of the
erroneous beliefs about "hell" within traditional Christianity. Some have viewed it not as a parable, but as a true story Yeshua told to give details about the punishment of sinners in hell.
Yet a thorough, unbiased examination of this story will show that the generally accepted interpretations of this passage of Scripture are erroneous and misleading. In this article, we will go through the parable verse by verse to determine
what the Messiah was truly teaching..............................
CONCLUSION
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man, long used by mainstream Christian ministers
to teach the "reality of hell," really has nothing to say about punishment or reward in the afterlife.
Yeshua used this story, which fit the common misconception about life after death in his day, to show the fate that awaited the Jewish nation because of the unbelief and faithlessness which caused them to reject him as the Messiah.
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http://www.kingdombiblestudies.org/tablecontents.htm
Usually, when the story of the rich man and Lazarus is considered, its setting is ignored. At the time the story was told Jesus had just eaten dinner with a Pharisee, at which time He not only healed a man with dropsy, but gave some pointed advice about how to give a dinner party. When He left the house, great throngs followed Him.
Many of this great company were publicans and sinners who drew near to hear His teaching, and mingled with them were a great number of the scribes and Pharisees. The
scribes and Pharisees complained openly and bitterly against Jesus, condemning Him because He received sinners into His company and ate with them.
Against this background of biting criticism Jesus stood and gave the teachings found in chapters fifteen and sixteen of Luke. There are five stories which follow consecutively. It is well known, of course, that chapters and verses were not in the original scriptures. We are at liberty to change them when they do not synchronize with other scripture. Any arrangement of chapter and verse division that clarifies or harmonizes other scripture, is more authoritative than that division that beclouds other statements of the Bible.
At the beginning of Jesus’ discourse in chapter fifteen of Luke the statement is made that “He spoke this parable unto them, saying,” (Lk. 15:3). The Greek is very definite in making the word for parable clearly a singular noun. It is “the parable this..”
This statement is followed by five separate stories, the first of which is the story of the lost sheep, and the last is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. You see, the teaching in chapter sixteen is but the continuation of the discourse in chapter fifteen, without interruption.
Now, which of the five stories He gave them in this sermon was called a parable? The only one of the five which is prefaced by the claim, “And He spoke this parable unto them,” was the story about the lost sheep. Was the lost sheep the only one that could be called a parable?
And yet, any preacher or believer that I know will answer that the story of the lost coin, as well as the prodigal son, were also parables. Then why was the singular used - “this parable”?
It should be clear to any thinking mind that all
these stories were ONE PARABLE, like the facets of a diamond, as they turn each scintillates with new brilliance. Each was illustrating a view point of one great truth, and together they compose a whole.
And this parabolic discourse of Jesus is continued into chapter sixteen of Luke, including the story of the rich man and Lazarus
. The truth is that all five stories are each a fractional part of the complete parable, and when we read, “He spoke this parable unto them,” symbol-pictures which in their completeness constituted the parable which He spoke.
It is a careless assumption and an unfounded assertion to argue that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is not a parable!
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