Re: Christ's Forty Pre-Ascension Days
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● Luke 23:43 . . Jesus answered him: I tell you the truth; today you will be with me in paradise.
Three days later, after passing away on the cross and rising from the dead; Jesus said:
● John 20:17 . . Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.
So; where was this paradise about which Jesus spoke in Luke 23:43?
There's a paradise in heaven (Rev 2:7) but I don't think Jesus was there because according to Ps 16:8-10, Matt 12:40, and Acts 2:25-31, Jesus soul was in the netherworld; which, according to the second chapter of Jonah, is down rather than up.
The only paradise that I'm aware of located in the netherworld is the area where Lazarus and Abraham were situated during the event recorded in Luke 16:19-31.
The story is commonly referred to as a parable; but I kinda have my doubts about it being a parable for a number of reasons.
Fiction can be defined as stories about people, places, and events that, though untrue; are plausible; viz: realistic.
Fantasy can be defined as stories about people, places, and events that are not only untrue; but implausible; viz: unrealistic.
For example: a story about a wooden boy like Pinocchio is unrealistic; while a story about a boy with autism is realistic. The difference between Pinocchio and the autistic boy is that the one is compatible with normal reality; while the other is far removed from normal reality.
I have yet to read even one of Jesus Christ's usual parables that couldn't possibly be a real-life story. They're all actually quite believable-- banquets, stewards, weddings, farmers sowing seed, pearls, lost sheep, fish nets, women losing coins, sons leaving home, wineskins bursting, tares among the wheat, leavened bread, barren fig trees, the blind leading the blind, et al.
Now; if Christ had told a story that alleged the moon was made of green cheese; we would have good reason to believe that at least that one was fantasy; but none of his usual parables are like that. No; there's nothing out of the ordinary them. At best; Christ's usual parables might qualify as fiction; but never fantasy because none of them are so far removed from the normal round of human experience that they have no basis in reality whatsoever.
I think it is very safe to conclude that if Luke 16:19-31 were in fact a parable, it would at least be based upon reality because it would be inconsistent for all the other stories Jesus told to be realistic and then have him tell just the one that's not.
The parable theory has a fatal flaw. Abraham is not a fictional character: he's a real-life man; the father of the Hebrew people, held in very high esteem by at least three of the world's prominent religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And he's also the friend of God (Isa 41:8). I simply cannot believe that Jesus Christ-- a man famous among normal Christians for his honesty and integrity --would say something untrue about a famous real-life man; especially about one of his Father's buddies.
And on top of that, the story quotes Abraham a number of times. Well; if the story is untrue, then Jesus Christ is on record testifying that Abraham said things that he didn't really say; which is a clear violation of the commandment that prohibits bearing false witness.
There is something else to consider.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus didn't originate with Jesus Christ. No, it originated with his Father. In other words: Jesus Christ was micro-managed.
● John 3:34 . . He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God
● John 8:26 . . He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
● John 8:28 . . I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
● John 12:49 . . I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
● John 14:24 . .The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
So, by alleging that Luke 16:19-31 is fiction/fantasy, the parable theory slanders God by insinuating that He's a person of marginal integrity who can't be trusted to tell the truth about people, not even about His own friends.
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