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I've always puzzled at Jesus' parable of the talents: > ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to hi

I've always puzzled at Jesus' parable of the talents: > ‘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. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14-30&version=ESV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14... The condemnation of the final recipient of the investment is so incredibly unexpected and seemingly out of character. Not only did Jesus reward risk-taking but he condemned the absence thereof. I don't really know what to make of the lesson, but it certainly presents a different angle than what I would presume to be the "Christian" approach to life.

Terr_ 9y ago
The most charitable interpretation I can think of (as an agnostic) is that the servant who took no risks with their investment is like a person who avoids chances to do good because they are afraid to "lose" under the existing system of Jewish religious rules. An example of this is in the parable of the Good Samaritan, where ostensibly-virtuous people ignore the victim, because to intervene would make them ritually-unclean. Another case would be where Jesus seems unafraid to mingle with beggars and prostitutes, to the confusion and consternation of other religious figures at the time. From a modern standpoint, we do not have many of those rules drilled into us, so the "risk of having a net increase in sin" simply isn't on our radar. For example, if someone is drowning we think nothing about which hand we use to pull that person from the water.
- slededit 9y ago
  Digging the hole and hiding 80 lbs of silver (what a talent was) would have been more work than just depositing it with the bank. So his aversion to loss caused him to expend more effort for a worse outcome.

Terr_ 9y ago

The most charitable interpretation I can think of (as an agnostic) is that the servant who took no risks with their investment is like a person who avoids chances to do good because they are afraid to "lose" under the existing system of Jewish religious rules. An example of this is in the parable of the Good Samaritan, where ostensibly-virtuous people ignore the victim, because to intervene would make them ritually-unclean. Another case would be where Jesus seems unafraid to mingle with beggars and prostitutes, to the confusion and consternation of other religious figures at the time. From a modern standpoint, we do not have many of those rules drilled into us, so the "risk of having a net increase in sin" simply isn't on our radar. For example, if someone is drowning we think nothing about which hand we use to pull that person from the water.

slededit 9y ago
Digging the hole and hiding 80 lbs of silver (what a talent was) would have been more work than just depositing it with the bank. So his aversion to loss caused him to expend more effort for a worse outcome.