An Atheistic Bible Study Of The Gospels Parable Of The Tares

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Also known as the Parable Of The Weeds, this story is only presented by Matthew (13:24-30). Jesus tells of a farmer sowing seeds in his fields. He naturally sows only good wheat seeds in the hope of a good crop. Alas, some unknown unseen enemy creeps into the field and sows bad seeds, that will grow to be weeds, among the wheat. The farmer’s servants (slaves) discover the problem and advise the farmer to dig up all the seeds to separate away the bad seeds. The farmer declines the advice and decides to let the crops and weeds grow in full as it will be easier to separate them at the harvest. Matthew 3:36-43 provides an explanation initially shared only with the Apostles, but for some reason leaked to the masses who were not supposed to learn the trade secrets by the Gospel authors. The field is Earth, the Farmer is the Creator, The seeds are Christians, the bad seeds are unbelievers, the sower of bad seeds being Satan. The harvesters are Angel, God and Jesus, and the harvest separation of the wheat from the chaff (commentaries on the parable provide the root of this phrase) is Judgement Day. The parable fails as both theological and agricultural advice. Leaving weeds growing in the wheat field means their roots can strangle seeds, they can also rob the light, water and soil nutrients the growing wheat would need. The farmer could end up with nothing worth harvesting at all. For God, it must be asked why he fails to stop the bad seeds ever getting planted in the first place and doesn’t make them into good seeds. The parable tries to explain why God does nothing to stop evil and suffering, including presumably genocides. He plans to leave the mess ongoing until Judgement Day. The parable has been used to justify persecution by the Church, as if the Inquisition tortures and kills a few believers among the suspected heretics, God will sort out the mess later. This is another contestant for the worst parable award. Youtube – Monty Python Spanish Inquisition sketch Arthur Chappell