The way you describe language in eternity or at Pentecost sounds like the universal translator from Star Trek. I think that may be what you alluding to.
Your speculations sound reassuring but...What about the parables of the foolish virgins and their lamps or the wedding guest not dressed correctly? Are those meant to suggest it is sort of a "be prepared and get it right or sorry" sort of situation?
Good question! You also picked one of the hardest parables to interpret in the Gospels. There's several ways to understand it, some more helpful than others. The fact that the women are all called virgins, are all bridesmaids, and are all given oil suggests to me that this isn't a parable about salvation from hell but about sanctification. Put in Christian terms, they already believed; the question is what are they doing with their belief. How does their belief affect their actions? I think I mentioned this in the hell episode, but I believe Jesus's parables were about believers, not unbelievers, about reward and punishment in the renewed heavens and earth. Christians can be foolish too, and just because a person believes in Jesus doesn't mean they get to escape judgement entirely in the next life. God judges us based on what we do with what we have. That being said, there is much about this parable that is amiss. The bride is never mentioned at all. The groom is late and therefore arguably the reason some weren't able to make it in anyway. He is far less forgiving than the God figure often is in Jesus's parables, so perhaps he's not a standin for God here. If we're judged based on what we have and how we use it, shouldn't the "wise" bridesmaids been judged for not sharing with those who had less? Perhaps the parable is a commentary on who we judge to be wise and foolish. We might see someone show up without oil to the wedding and call them foolish when really that's all the oil they could afford. Or perhaps they had to rush over from helping someone else and didn't have time to grab more. Or perhaps their kid knocked over the bottle and spilled some. Diana Butler Bass read this as the "wise" bridesmaids not being as wise as they appeared because they went to a party with a late, rude host. Perhaps then the moral is not to be prepared but to be discerning which party you go to. Personally, I lean preterist in my understanding of much of the New Testament, so I'm not convinced this is a spiritual parable. I think it's a parable about the very real physical threat of Rome that was looming over Israel and would destroy Jerusalem 40 years later. I think Jesus was taking on the role of the prophets of the Tanakh who warned of impending physical judgement and exile. He was saying, if you don't start loving each other the way Yahweh intended, we're foolishly heading for another exile. If you're so busy focusing on yourself and buying and selling and getting what you need that you don't consider the circumstances around you, you're going to end up on the wrong side of Rome real soon. Rome better fits the late, rude host than God does in my opinion. So the parable isn't about end times but about the impending destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
These are great discussions!! Thanks for these series.
The way you describe language in eternity or at Pentecost sounds like the universal translator from Star Trek. I think that may be what you alluding to.
Yep! I think we might just have that ability built into us once we get beamed up😆or I should say, heaven gets beamed down
According to some readings and some denominations the state after death is sleep until resurrection
We get into that one in the next episode!
Your speculations sound reassuring but...What about the parables of the foolish virgins and their lamps or the wedding guest not dressed correctly? Are those meant to suggest it is sort of a "be prepared and get it right or sorry" sort of situation?
Good question! You also picked one of the hardest parables to interpret in the Gospels. There's several ways to understand it, some more helpful than others. The fact that the women are all called virgins, are all bridesmaids, and are all given oil suggests to me that this isn't a parable about salvation from hell but about sanctification. Put in Christian terms, they already believed; the question is what are they doing with their belief. How does their belief affect their actions? I think I mentioned this in the hell episode, but I believe Jesus's parables were about believers, not unbelievers, about reward and punishment in the renewed heavens and earth. Christians can be foolish too, and just because a person believes in Jesus doesn't mean they get to escape judgement entirely in the next life. God judges us based on what we do with what we have.
That being said, there is much about this parable that is amiss. The bride is never mentioned at all. The groom is late and therefore arguably the reason some weren't able to make it in anyway. He is far less forgiving than the God figure often is in Jesus's parables, so perhaps he's not a standin for God here. If we're judged based on what we have and how we use it, shouldn't the "wise" bridesmaids been judged for not sharing with those who had less? Perhaps the parable is a commentary on who we judge to be wise and foolish. We might see someone show up without oil to the wedding and call them foolish when really that's all the oil they could afford. Or perhaps they had to rush over from helping someone else and didn't have time to grab more. Or perhaps their kid knocked over the bottle and spilled some.
Diana Butler Bass read this as the "wise" bridesmaids not being as wise as they appeared because they went to a party with a late, rude host. Perhaps then the moral is not to be prepared but to be discerning which party you go to.
Personally, I lean preterist in my understanding of much of the New Testament, so I'm not convinced this is a spiritual parable. I think it's a parable about the very real physical threat of Rome that was looming over Israel and would destroy Jerusalem 40 years later. I think Jesus was taking on the role of the prophets of the Tanakh who warned of impending physical judgement and exile. He was saying, if you don't start loving each other the way Yahweh intended, we're foolishly heading for another exile. If you're so busy focusing on yourself and buying and selling and getting what you need that you don't consider the circumstances around you, you're going to end up on the wrong side of Rome real soon. Rome better fits the late, rude host than God does in my opinion. So the parable isn't about end times but about the impending destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.