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Originally Posted by Cindy
So according to some he distorted scripture. Are we the thought police? We did not write the scripture, neither are we God. Who are we to say someone else's thoughts are wrong?
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So scripture can mean whatever you wish it to? Or did it mean something to the original hearers?
This is how wacky things happen. They use the story as a theater stage to support any read-into the parable any idea they have. Then some even take the story and stretch it out for 5 hours with "what ifs" --- taking the analogous story farther than it was intended.
Each parable teaches a single moral truth -- a primary truth. Can there be secondary implications yes? Can there be 20 different meanings? I don't believe so. These were said to a people, and to an audience for a reason. Not to sit around like beatniks and make up your own interpretation.
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Conservative hermeneutics proceeds on the premise that language is meaningful and that the words in God's biblical communication carry "historical, cultural, spiritual, and moral meaning and values."5 As an interpreter approaches the Scriptures, he is conscious of the words and endeavors to discover the meaning carried by them. Sometimes Jesus supplied the interpretation (e.g., Matt. 22:14; 25:13), and on other occasions the Gospel writer made an editorial comment. Often the key to interpretation can be found in the prologue to the parable (e.g., Luke 18:1, 9; 19:11). Other times the epilogue gives a clue to the proper interpretation (Matt. 25:13; Luke 16:9). And in some parables the prologue and epilogue form an interpretive parenthesis around the story (e.g., Matt. 18:23–24, 35; Luke 12:16–21).
Jesus often told parables to answer a question, meet a challenge, or invite the hearers to change their thinking. To discover the need that prompted the parable is a significant step toward unlocking its meaning within its original context. Often that need in the original historical and/or literary audience is shared by current readers. Thus the supporting braces for the bridge of application can begin to be formed at this point in the interpretive process. The need may be seen in the material that introduces the parable (e.g., Luke 18:1) or it may not be revealed until after the parable is told (e.g., 16:8). Zuck suggests nine kinds of occasions or purposes that led to Jesus' parables, with examples of each: parables in answer to questions, parables in answer to requests, parables in answer to complaints, parables given with a stated purpose, parables of the kingdom given because of Israel's rejection of Jesus as Messiah, parables following an exhortation or principle, parables that illustrate a situation, and parables with the purpose implied but not stated.
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http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/ar...es_bailey.html
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