“Once more unto the breach, dear friends!” Henry V
said to his troops at Harfleur, according to William Shakespeare. It literally
means “Let’s have another go!” Now, I promise that this will be the last installment of my critique
of the Three Bible Scholars (TBS’s) – unless you want more! (After all, there’s
a LOT more of the Bible that they missed on their first round of Public Bible
Studies.) In a way, this installment is the hardest one to do, because Jesus
actually uses capitalism as a
positive example, instead of denouncing it for the evil, vicious, ungodly
activity that every Democratic Senator (like Booker and Warren) and popular
preacher (like Rev. Barber) know it is.
Here is the passage from Matthew’s Gospel chapter 25
that we will be discussing:
The Parable of the Talents
14 “For [God’s Kingdom] will be like a man going
on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another
one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and
traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.
18 But he who had received
the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came
and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward,
bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents;
here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant. You have been
faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your
master.’ 22 And he
also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me
two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter
into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward,
saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow,
and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the
ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful
servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I
scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the
bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
28 So take the talent from
him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will
have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken
away. 30 And cast the
worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.’”
***
Now, before anyone faints from the sheer audacity of
Jesus Christ to “favor” rich, capitalist owner / occupiers[1]
(or shall we call this figure a “corporation”?), let me hasten to explain the
following:
1)
According to our TBS’s, Jesus only meant for us to
read or hear the passage that follows
this one (Matthew 25: 31 – 46) – that is, the passage concerning the Last
Judgement, which this blog examined in Part 1 of this series.
2)
We should avoid interpreting the word “talent” in
this passage as being involved in any free market endeavors. That would be
strictly against the Moral Code of the TBS’s. (“Money can only be used as
handouts.”)
3)
The Uh-O who distributed the talents was obviously
one of those “capitalist oppressors”; it may have something to do with the “gathering
where you scattered no seed” bit. In any case, any other interpretation would
make it appear that God actually approves
of the ownership of property, a free enterprise system, bartering, the gaining
of interest (the Stock Market?), etc. (And then we’d have another problem with
the Eighth Commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.”) Notice, too, how abusive the
Uh-O is towards the frightened, overly-protective possessor of the single
talent. At one point in the narrative, the Uh-O berates the poor, unlucky
non-trader; later, he even evicts him into the “outer darkness” (verse 30). Gee…
in light of the TBS’s claim to possess the “moral side of history,”[2]
shouldn’t Jesus edit His parable a bit?
4) But, wait!
There’s more! At the very end of the parable, the Uh-O informs his servants
thus: “For
to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from
the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (verse 29). How
utterly shocking and undemocratic! How non-liberal these words are!
Now pause for a second to consider # 4
before we go on. Don’t the words that Jesus puts in the Uh-O’s mouth sound like
the exact opposite of what
Booker, Warren, and Barber are advocating? They oppose the appointment of Brett
Kavanaugh as the next Supreme Court Judge precisely
because he – like the Uh-O in Jesus’ parable – refuses to decide cases ahead of
time based on the “hungry / thirsty / stranger (alien) / sick / imprisoned”
labels discussed in Parts 1 & 2 of this series.
My, my!! What have we learned from a
non-PC reading of the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel? 1) God does
not demand that we share with those too lazy to prepare for themselves. 2) Jesus
won’t let us into His Party if we’re not His followers, and only He – not the
Democratic Party or any other political organization – can open the door once
it’s shut. 3) We are each given resources from God (as He determines, not the Democratic Party), and He holds us
accountable for using them to the best of our abilities. 4) The punishment for
failure to “look to these matters” is severe (and not determined by Democrats).
It appears that the TBS’s have a problem
of Biblical proportions… If I were Booker, Warren, and Barber, I’d have a genuine heart-to-heart with our
Lord and Savior – and initiate a sincere and open-minded study of God’s Word – before
they begin any heart-to-heart “discussions” with Brett Kavanaugh. It might just
save them from a trip into “outer darkness.”
[1]
Or, if you prefer, the “Uh-O’s”
[2] O’Neil, Tyler. “Bernie
Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker Host Bible Event against Trump Supreme
Court Pick” PJ Media, July 25, 2018. https://pjmedia.com/faith/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-cory-booker-host-bible-event-against-trump-supreme-court-pick/
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