There were two men who lived in the same city. One was a kind man, well liked by those who knew him. The other was a known criminal. Though they had never met and were not closely related, they did have the same name and the same surname. Books are likened unto this, as you should not presume upon one by its name.
Jesus spoke a lot in relation to what is recorded in the Gospels; (thankfully, for) everything He spoke was good. After a recent discussion with a friend, I have come to question: are the parables that Jesus spoke historically accurate? This may seem an unusual question for I have never heard anyone question their historical accuracy, for even among Biblical Creationists who view the Bible as accurate to a straight-forward reading (which insists that Jesus in fact did actually speak the words indicated) the stories Jesus spoke were possibly, though indeterminately, entirely fiction.
However, I maintain that there are parables that Jesus spoke are demonstratively historically accurate (presuming the Bible's accuracy itself). Now, I've gone through all the
items listed here and have come up with three categories that describe the parables.
Firstly, situational directions which are in the format, "if you are in this situation, do this", e.g.
The Guests (and it may be likened to the kingdom of Heaven, as well as useful in other Earthly situations).
Secondly, there are hypothetical situations, in the format of "if you are in this situation, wouldn't you do this?", e.g.
Friend at Night (which also may be likened to the kingdom of Heaven, etc.).
And thirdly, full Earthly stories that with a spiritual meaning, in the format "there was a certain so and so who did such and such" or "the something is like a such and such that did something or the other", e.g.
The Two Debtors,
The Parable of The Ten Virgins. (This is the primary meaning of the word parable.)
Demonstratively accurate are the last of the examples, most easily: If the scriptures are accurate and Jesus is God, who is always truthful, then his statement that there was a certain person, must indicate that there truly was an actual historical person.
But, to cover all the examples, my primary thought is this: If Jesus is God and God is all knowing, why would he need to make up fictitious stories to prove His point? The world currently has billions of people, God can see and has seen all of these since the beginning of the world. More than likely is that these stories have occurred fully by their descriptions many many times. But frankly, Jesus could very well have seen each of these stories with His own Earthly eyes during His time here on earth in the 30 or so years before His ministry.
Labels: christianity, friends
Wow, twice in one week. I'm looking like I'm on a roll! There's nothing like a blue screen of death. Again I was lucky that I had saved everything. Of course, I am in the habit of saving a LOT. I usually save stuff once every minute or two when I am developing websites. This is mainly because I save then view in a different application. 
