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All Evil Parable

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Money: The Root of All Evil- Or Is It?
Luke 16:1-15

Keaton C. Walkine

Vanderbilt Divinity School
New Testament (DIV-6600)
Amy-Jill Levine, Ph.D.

April 16, 2018

?Money: The Root of All Evil- Or Is It??
There is much that has been extrapolated from the so-called Parable of the Dishonest Manager, found in Luke chapter 16:1-15. Most scholars agree that this parable is indeed the most difficult of Jesus?s parables to interpret. Understandably so, there have been many interpretations of the pericope over these many years. Alyce M. McKenzie in her book The Parables for Today, cites the following:
This parable is one of the strangest of the strange. Commentators are all over the map in their opinions of what we should …show more content…

This alternation is a literary device which keeps both the teaching of Jesus and his conflict with (and differences from) his opponents in view. It also requires the reader to keep asking, like Peter, ?Is this for us??[footnoteRef:8] [7: Klyne Snodgrass,?Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus?(Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2008), 405.] [8: Lk 12:41 (NRSV).]

The term ?friends? has been used several times in the surrounding context of Luke. For instance, the prodigal son tried to make friends of those in a foreign land, but in the end his only companions were the swine. Another example is with the older brother?s desire for a fatted calf to share with his friends. And in this parable, the dishonest manager plans to make new friends with his master?s money.

Detailed Analysis of the …show more content…

The metaphor suggests that church people do not own anything, instead they are managers of God?s property. They are supposed to figure how much of a return God has a right to expect from the property entrusted to them.?[footnoteRef:14] Herein lays the acid test of money. When the parable of the Dishonest Manager is compared to the parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32), a wealthy father may entrust his son with a small amount of responsibility before he comes of age. The son?s faithfulness in a little shows that he will also be faithful over everything that will ultimately be entrusted to him later (verse 10). [14: James R. Adams,?From Literal to Literary: The Essential Reference Book for Biblical Metaphors, 2nd ed. (Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2008),

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