An Atheistic Bible Study Of The Gospels The Parable Of The Unforgiving Servant.

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A parable found exclusively in Matthew 18: 21-35. The Apostle Peter asks Jesus how often he should go on forgiving his brother when his brother keeps on re-offending against him. Peter suggests the figure of seven times. Jesus advises multiplying seven to seventy, (just a way of saying lots more rather than a literal figure). Jesus then gives the example of a Lord and his servant. A rich Lord with lots of servants (slaves) finds that one slave owes him ten thousand talents. The punishment for this is conventionally to sell the slave to a new master, along with the slave’s wives, children and belongings. When the servant breaks down emotionally and begs not to be sold off the lord is moved to forgive him and writes off the debt. The slave however has sub-slaves who owe him money too, and he intimidates a man who owes him on hundred denarii, no matter how much the man begs him to give him more time. The lord learns of this and imposes the original sentence on the slave, selling him and his family off to new harsher masters. The message is that God loves and forgives us so we have to be forgiving to each other too or God will cancel his forgiveness on us and send us to Hell. This does not tie in with Jesus telling Peter to forgive and forgive multiple times, (with 70 given as a ball-park figure). God adopts a one strike (two at best) and you are out attitude. Modern debt collectors do not withdraw a debt because you have a strong emotional plea. They will impose the contract of repayment with high interest no matter what. We also have no way of knowing how God, if he exists at all (as I doubt), feels about anything we have done in our lives. Priests and religious moralists might speculate and they might forgive us (as in the Catholic act of confession and absolution) but God might have very different views. This parable is effectively useless. Arthur Chappell