Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 09-27-2005, 01:44 PM

I ran across this, which might be of interest:

Ask the economist: parable of the talents

The questioner had received £10 from his church; the pastor had hoped for a repeat of the parable to build the church fund.

The Financial Times economist said:

Quote:

... you have to remember that biblical Judea was severely capital-constrained. Anyone lucky enough to have investment capital had a great choice of projects and 100 per cent returns were not uncommon. A comparable present-day return on your money might be 10 per cent, or £1. Had Jesus wished to tell a parable about extraordinary investment savvy, he'd have said that the slaves quintupled the money.

Second, a "talent" was worth £550 or more in today's money, the kind of sum that would fund participation in a significant venture. And third, household slaves were experienced money-managers. In contrast, your church is dishing out peanuts to monkeys.

Most serious of all, the parable of the talents has a master entrusting money to slaves who could not run away. You, on the other hand, are a free agent

pharoah · 09-27-2005, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

I ran across this, which might be of interest:

Ask the economist: parable of the talents

The questioner had received £10 from his church; the pastor had hoped for a repeat of the parable to build the church fund.

The Financial Times economist said:

Seed money? :rolling: I'd say that the pastor is a very very saavy fellow. He knows that he can count on the guilt and fears of the flock to at the very least return the original money, and in all likelihood return 5,10,20,50 or 100 times the amount. After all, who's going to rob God?

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