Who Wrote Jesus' Parable About the Vineyard Workers
I read an article today claiming Jesus favored a free market for labor and not socialism. The parable is supposed to be a lesson in the morals of wages.
As I recall, the story tells of one set of workers who made a deal early in the day and went off to work. Later in the day another set of workers showed up and were paid the same amount as the first but for fewer hours. The first group complained. Jesus is quoted as saying (paraphrasing), "A deal is a deal. You who started early should take you pay and be quiet."
The author of this post ignores the places where Jesus was quoted as saying the rich man should give up all his money. Also ignored are the parts where Jesus supposedly talked of helping the poor.
The author also said "economists" agree setting one wage for all makes for lazy workers. I'm not aware that any economist has said this in an academic paper. What I do know about was Britain's attempt at equal wages for all. During a period decades ago when socialists were in power it started an equal wages for all policy. The worst jobs back then were in the coal industry, dirty and dangerous. With equal wages offered at less miserable jobs there was a shortage of coal mine workers and a coal shortage. Needless to say the policy of equal wages for all was quickly deemed unsuccessful.
That Jesus was supposedly for every worker and employer to arrive and a deal almost certainly was written by someone from the wealthy 1% of the time. That writer wanted to negotiate the best deal to make the most money. It was not part of some great moral lesson.
The "lessen" in the Bible about negotiating wages is interesting just now. There is a shortage of workers in various industries. I can't say I understand what is going on. But, I suspect it has to do with many miserable jobs with miserable pay before the pandemic. Then, when lots of people lost their jobs they found they were happier instead of miserable. They developed skills at getting by.
I know there was public money of various kinds passed out. But I don't know if that and that alone is holding back people from reentering then labor force.
What I am convinced about is that if there was a Jesus that person never told the parable about the wine workers. That was written by the 1%.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletetsm -- What a relief. We have yet another of a gazillion people who say, "What that means is..." Apparently, taking what Jesus was supposed to have said (know one has ever claimed to have heard a Jesus say anything) is a mortal sin. Absolutely, we are never ever to conclude that if Jesus said, "You made a deal. You are stuck with it" that is actually what he meant.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deletetsm -- "..no authoritative or even common sense understanding of this passage..."
DeleteThat's a good one. Who is "authoritative?" I'm sure a Catholic like yourself is confident the men in the clergy are the only "authorities" on "what this means."
You should realize I, myself, am quite an authority on these matters. For example I can tell you what the passage in Matthew means. It tells of long dead people coming out of their graves and walking into town when Jesus died. What this means is they were not buried deep enough.
I can help you with this stuff.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI would agree with TSM that this tale is more like The Prodigal Son with the lesson it is trying to teach. The problem is, its a terrible analogy in today's world because it is impossible to remove the economic impact from the alleged lesson that is being taught.
DeleteThe Prodigal Son's message seems to be one of family. It makes sense because it compares the love of Christ to the love a father might show to a long lost son.
This story does not work because we all know that tomorrow, no one is going to show up until late in the day, and this will affect all of the farmers in the area negatively. In today's world, where we all have a little bit of understanding about how economic principles like this works, the story fails on all levels.
But at the core of this debate is that the number one ideal that I stand behind in this world is the ideal that every person needs to think for himself/herself, and no one should ever rely on an "authority" to deliver critical information without thoroughly checking that information first. That's how societies are manipulated into doing horrible things. This concept of "lean not onto thine own understanding" is the number one reason why religion, on a global scale, lacks credibility, and I find the concept to be morally repugnant. Thine own understanding frequently contradicts the message that "the authorities" are trying to send. The problem is, thine own understanding tends to do a much better job backing up their arguments.
When someone tells me to "lean not onto thine own understanding", my immediate assumption is that I'm being fed a line of bull.
tsm. @ 7:37; Correct. Virtually every sect of Christianity understands the laboring in the vineyard as you say. From the preacher, to the organist, to everyone in the congregation, and to everyone outside, including the drunk at the back door. Only Jon and his like the economist would insert his econ twist to the parable.
Deletetsm "you are an authority"
DeleteOf course I was being facetious. Who is an "authority?" It is not groups who benefit from the interpretations they promote. To discover the motives of such groups requires a little intellectual effort. It also goes by the name critical thinking. Catholic clergy, especially those high in rank, are looking to protect themselves.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deletetsm "everyone is motivated by self interest...not very helpful in finding the correct interpretation of scripture..."
DeleteOne thing critical interpretations of the Bible provide us is an overview. This overview points us toward some interpretations and away from others. Three aspects of the overview are: 1.) Whoever wrote the stuff Jesus said and much of the rest of the Bible had in mind a specific audience of that time (they had no concept what they wrote would be read thousands of years later). 2.) Those who wrote had a specific message or goal in their writing. Thus, they wanted to persuade some specific audience to believe or accept something the audience did not believe or accept at that time. 3.) Writers put their words and ideas into the mouth of Jesus when they wanted to increase their impact.
These aspects in scripture are not unlike the imposters who wrote posing as Paul.
Using this overview, why did the writer have Jesus saying take your pay and go home? My approach is more honest than yours. I only know what he was supposed to have said and don't claim to be a mind reader of some writer thousands of years ago. If you are so smart as to read the mind of the ancient writer put up a sign and read minds at the Red River Valley Fair.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deletetsm "you are allowed to read anything into Scripture you want to."
DeleteI know this will tax you reasoning ability to the max, but let's give it a try. I am not reading anything into scripture. I am merely taking the words attributed to Jesus as they appear. YOU ARE READING SOMETHING ELSE INTO SCRIPTURE THAN WHAT IS WRITTEN THERE. Nowhere in the Bible does it say the Jesus character was talking about admittance to heaven when he said "You made a deal to work all day. Take you pay and go home."
Am I asking to much of you by requesting you stop making ridiculous arguments.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI thought you were an economist, Jon!
ReplyDeleteWe already had a shortage of warehouse workers here in Arizona before COVID19, but warehouse jobs, even if they pay well, aren't in high demand.
Well, they are in higher demand now.
The delivery drivers down here are working hella hours at a pretty high rate of pay. I have no idea what the warehouse work is like.