I’m not religious anymore and I’m not making a defense of Christianity, but before all of this the Bible explains that when Jesus comes and starts teaching, he’s going to teach in parable (metaphor) so most of his teaching needs to be seen through that lens. So this should more properly be seen as a teaching saying to take your gifts (compassion, love, wisdom) out into the world and use them to become a better person. There’s also some deeper meaning here that usury was frowned upon at the time so this would have been a very provocative thing to use as a metaphor.
Of course the main way that people corrupt Christianity is by taking things literally, and if you do that you can take any meaning away you want. That’s how you get a branch that literally only exists to promote the institution of chattel slavery (Southern Baptist) along with pacifist, community-centric, anti-slavery Quakers. And how people are OK with driving BMWs to church and engaging in the crusades and thinking Trump was sent by God. It’s all in there if you want it to be, which makes it easy to exploit.
Oh also if you haven’t read The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler, I highly recommend those
Ah yes, the Romans commissioned “The Bible” as if there aren’t 450+ versions in print in English alone with wide variations of included, excluded and revised content. I’m so glad that you personally were able to find the clear meaning of the text in a book that has entirely passed through 3-5 languages and been through a 2000 year whirlwind of competing theological and political forces. Shut it down everyone, this guy solved it
I’m not religious anymore and I’m not making a defense of Christianity, but before all of this the Bible explains that when Jesus comes and starts teaching, he’s going to teach in parable (metaphor) so most of his teaching needs to be seen through that lens. So this should more properly be seen as a teaching saying to take your gifts (compassion, love, wisdom) out into the world and use them to become a better person. There’s also some deeper meaning here that usury was frowned upon at the time so this would have been a very provocative thing to use as a metaphor.
Of course the main way that people corrupt Christianity is by taking things literally, and if you do that you can take any meaning away you want. That’s how you get a branch that literally only exists to promote the institution of chattel slavery (Southern Baptist) along with pacifist, community-centric, anti-slavery Quakers. And how people are OK with driving BMWs to church and engaging in the crusades and thinking Trump was sent by God. It’s all in there if you want it to be, which makes it easy to exploit.
Oh also if you haven’t read The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler, I highly recommend those
I was also trained in the use of exegetical BS to contradict the clear meaning of the text.
The Bible is a Roman imperial project, commissioned by an emperor.
Ah yes, the Romans commissioned “The Bible” as if there aren’t 450+ versions in print in English alone with wide variations of included, excluded and revised content. I’m so glad that you personally were able to find the clear meaning of the text in a book that has entirely passed through 3-5 languages and been through a 2000 year whirlwind of competing theological and political forces. Shut it down everyone, this guy solved it
A hit dog howls