tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post7462026729967563931..comments2024-03-22T06:31:42.929-05:00Comments on Wry Thoughts About Religion: How to Limit the many Diverse Interpretations of ParablesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-36375525533665408492022-03-06T10:19:40.111-06:002022-03-06T10:19:40.111-06:00Charlie,
I think “coincidentally” (sigkurian) was ...Charlie,<br />I think “coincidentally” (sigkurian) was probably important to the teller of the story because it is the first noun in this section/sentence of the story (as I divide it) and because of its rarity in the New Testament (only here is it found). God didn’t send them, and in the story they had no purpose in being there, other than to be foils of the storyteller. I would assume that if God sent them on a journey their task would have been to care for the victim. But, to the author, this was an example of the character of Judean religious “exemplars” away from the temple, barren of those trappings, for the “world” to see. That’s the way it seems to me. <br /><br />Dennis Dean Carpenter<br />Dahlonega, Ga. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-2910189147332689622022-03-06T08:15:13.657-06:002022-03-06T08:15:13.657-06:00Thanks for pointing out the textual history of the...Thanks for pointing out the textual history of the Samaritan saying, Dennis. Very few folks, I think, are aware of the Samaritan looking like a Johnny come lately on to the textual scene. Also, thanks for mentioning DeBuhn whose book The First New Testament should be required reading for anyone who's trying to understand the New Testament. It's probably the first book that I would recommend.<br /><br />My interest in the Samaritan arises because it was voted an authentic saying of Jesus by the Jesus Seminar. I try to compare it with other genuine sayings to determine possible common denominators that would help understand the person Jesus, and as such how the rest of the NT treats the Samaritans is less important to my immediate purpose. Regarding story as story, we have a Samaritan, the guy living in a neighboring state, showing compassion to an injured traveler, and you have Temple personnel putting purity (The guy was possibly dead.) ahead of compassion. This stuff is consistent with other "genuine" Jesus material.<br /><br />Gene Stecher<br />Chambersburg. Pa.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-83960344218020926992022-03-06T06:54:57.531-06:002022-03-06T06:54:57.531-06:00Hi Dennis,
I agree; to take it as a coincidence th...Hi Dennis,<br />I agree; to take it as a coincidence that the subsequent three travelers "happened" to be priest, Levite, and Samaritan and reading them as something else would be a different story. I also think that "by coincidence" could reinforce the identity of the three travelers, as you argue. Your view would mean I gather that the story is an anti temple story. But in either case (my suggestion and your counter) "by coincidence" becomes central to the interpretation of the story. Would you agree?<br />Cordially,<br />Charlie Charles Hedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285420936166236724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-33639528255202941012022-03-05T13:31:50.542-06:002022-03-05T13:31:50.542-06:00Gene,
I have read Josephus and his point of view ...Gene, <br />I have read Josephus and his point of view about the Samaritans. I don’t see the Christian Testament having the same view. There are 20 uses of “Samaritans” and “Samaria” in the Christian Testament, in Luke, Acts, John and once in Matthew. Only three I can find might hint of the tribal differences between Samaritans and Judeans (Mt. 10. Lk. 9.52-53, and John 4.9 in an aside). The Samaritan leper has faith in Luke and the Samaritan is caring in his parable. Before he goes power crazy, Simon is converted and baptized in Acts. Philip, Peter and John had great success at different times in Samaria and the church was built up in Acts. The Samaritans in John believed Jesus and asked him to stay. One gets a rather positive picture of Samaritans in the citations. When I look further, I don’t see the gospels’ Jesus as particularly interested in Samaritans. The interest seems to come rather late. I see the Good Samaritan as a “late arrival” to Luke because of lack of attestation in Marcion (per BeDuhn) and because the earliest ANF attestation seems to be late second, early third century. Whether meant to or not It foreshadowed canonical Luke’s positive mission to the Samaritans found in Acts. In this way, I can see it more related to the Luke/Acts notion of the spread of early “Christianity,” the “myth of Christian beginnings.”<br /><br /> But, I was attempting to look at the story strictly as story.<br /><br />Dennis Dean Carpenter<br />Dahlonega, Ga.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-57316890706954410642022-03-04T18:46:11.750-06:002022-03-04T18:46:11.750-06:00Hi Charlie and Dennis,
I see The Samaritan as an ...Hi Charlie and Dennis,<br /><br />I see The Samaritan as an example of threat de-escalation teaching. It's an example of attempting to reduce retaliation urges between two populations, Jews and Samaritans, (even though the injured party isn't specifically described as a Jew) by means of compassionate behavior (Josephus reported violent confrontations.). Both peoples had their own central places of worship, Samaria and Jerusalem respectively, so the writer may have been a Samaritan sympathizer since the hero is Samaritan and the bad guys are a priest and Levite of the Jerusalem Temple. We have a Galilean, Jesus, holding out a compassionate Samaritan as the representative of true religion, an obvious knock on the Judean Temple as a weak institution. Jesus' lining up with JBap and later attacking Temple operations indicates that he advocated a more direct relationship with the Father, who required his people to love one's enemy.<br /><br />Gene Stecher<br />Chambersburg, Pa.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-27621135079100552072022-03-03T17:28:50.853-06:002022-03-03T17:28:50.853-06:00Charlie,
To play on a pun, “That would be another ...Charlie,<br />To play on a pun, “That would be another story.” In other words, I’d need to know the historical and cultural perspective of these characters you have introduced to analogize. I personally make bread and do butchering duties with large pieces of meat, including field dressed deer, a whole hog, and smaller critters (including possum), but I’ve never been priest nor Levite.<br /><br />I think this word “coincidence” tends to color the reading of the story because it is extraneous to the action of the story, cueing the reader that the author probably means anything but “coincidence,” especially if told orally and with a roll of the eyes (or whatever bodily expression storytellers of that age used). I just found and read a translation of the earliest attestation of the story (Clement of Alexandria’s “Who is the Rich Man that Shall be Saved”, ch. 28) and thought his exegesis interesting.<br />Dennis Dean Carpenter<br />Dahlonega, Ga.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-4035372805774153802022-03-03T13:45:40.173-06:002022-03-03T13:45:40.173-06:00I like it that you stuck with the story and put yo...I like it that you stuck with the story and put yourself in the shoes of the first auditors of the tale. I do have a question: has the narrator undermined the identifications of the Priest and Levite by including the expression that it was "by chance" a Priest (10:31) and Levite (10;32,"so likewise)were going down that road. If so, the characters could have been anyone. Does the story still work if they become a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker? How would you read the story if the social markers had not been included?<br />Cordially,<br />CharlieCharles Hedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285420936166236724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-736092428856520442022-03-03T06:11:40.589-06:002022-03-03T06:11:40.589-06:00Charlie,
If I look at the “Good Samaritan” story ...Charlie,<br /> If I look at the “Good Samaritan” story without its particular framework (“one’s neighbor”), I just see an anti-temple or anti-Judean tale. Those people to the north are caring; those to the south uncaring. If I was a Samaritan or maybe a Galilean, I might have viewed it as common knowledge. If I was a Judean, I might be upset. <br />Dennis Dean Carpenter<br />Dahlonega, Ga.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-82001088097015088842022-03-02T06:33:12.448-06:002022-03-02T06:33:12.448-06:00Good Morning Gene,
I don't think that parable...Good Morning Gene, <br />I don't think that parables/stories/narratives "have meaning." Rather they evoke meaning in the minds of readers. Parables mean what they say; no more or less. Readers if gracious bestow meaning on parables.<br />Cordially,<br />Charlie Charles Hedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285420936166236724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-88859403720149450852022-03-02T06:27:46.100-06:002022-03-02T06:27:46.100-06:00Thanks Bob,
I hope things are going well for you a...Thanks Bob,<br />I hope things are going well for you and Debbie.<br />CharlieCharles Hedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285420936166236724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-57836465998019195162022-03-01T15:15:37.245-06:002022-03-01T15:15:37.245-06:00Hi Charlie,
1. Am I understanding correctly that,...Hi Charlie,<br /><br />1. Am I understanding correctly that, in your view, each individual story (parable) has its own individual meaning without overlap in meaning with the others? It seems to me that real people do not speak or act in such an unconnected manner.<br /><br />2. What do we do with non-specific teachings which seem to carry a lot of intensity, emotion and motivating power but have non-specific content. For example:"I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes." (Thomas 10; cf. Lk 12:49) <br /><br />How would one go about determining the referent for this aphorism: such as one particular story of Jesus, a particular group of teachings, all of the teachings, some action or group of actions? Doesn't the whole matter require a generic inspiring reality such as the empire or reign of God?<br /><br />Gene Stecher<br />Chambersburg, Pa.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828101829504518203.post-78617447901782160692022-02-27T13:28:08.024-06:002022-02-27T13:28:08.024-06:00Always a pleasure to read your thoughts on the par...Always a pleasure to read your thoughts on the parables, Charlie. All the best from my bunker to yours! Bob Fowlerbobinbereahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00501253521947132870noreply@blogger.com