
What was REALLY on offer (real or otherwise) by the writers of the Christian-Jewish propaganda in the first century of the Common Era …?
What do 21st Century Christians expect …?
Moderator: Moderators
It's not the metaphor of mansions that is important, and should not be taken literally. Rather, "the first shall be last and the last shall be first".
Luke 16:19-31 New International Version (NIV)
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’�
Like a Zen koan. Metaphysical indeed.William wrote: William: It is meant to show the Nature of The Father House in relation to The Metaphysical. A House which holds many Mansions. A Paradox.
Of course, professional Bible translators and editors of the most used Bible in the US don't translate as well as anonymous internet posters.bjs wrote: μοναὶ
Literally, it means “individual dwellings.� It can mean rooms, homes, mansions or other personal dwellings.
The KJV translated the word as “mansions.�
Since Jesus said that these “individual dwellings� are in an οἰκίᾳ - that is, a house – the most likely translation is “rooms.�
OMG …!!!bjs wrote: [Replying to SallyF]
In John 14:2 Jesus spoke of a house with many rooms, not individual mansions. The image he used was not of privately owned homes where people could live separate from each other, but of a one house of God so large that all people could be living together.
SallyF wrote:
What was REALLY on offer (real or otherwise) by the writers of the Christian-Jewish propaganda in the first century of the Common Era …?