Zionism Undermines our Gospel

[JD731]

God is the first Zionist. It is his idea.

Psalm 48:2
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

Psalm 78:68
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.

Psalm 125:1
They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

This is a political kingdom that is coming on earth and Mt Zion is the seat of his government of the whole world.

 

[John of Japan]

You have weird compartmentalization going on here. I have read a number of books on hermeneutics in my Bible studies at school, good and bad, but the better ones do not divorce theology from parables. They might teach that we don't make parables "walk on all four legs" (I forget which one put it that way). But we certainly can draw theology from parables. It was the obtuseness of the Disciples that they did not draw proper theological conclusions from the Master's parables and metaphors. And you are doing the same thing.

You need to relearn how to interpret parables. You have tried to make the story of the Good Samaritan a political treatise about Israel and the Palestinians. Here's a blog by a Bible scholar about that very parable and exactly how folks like to make it political: Interpreting Parables | Dr. Mike Lester.

You don't have to agree with me that parables are not for theology. (Almost all my hermeneutics books are at home, so I can't get any quotes about that.) However, surely you will agree with him and other scholars that a parable only has one central meaning. If there is only one central meaning, you can't change the meaning into whatever you want to. Exegeting the Good Samaritan should take us to loving a genuine neighbor (not a people group) who someone has antipathy towards.

Now, if I ever come across an individual Palestinian Arab who needs help, I'll be there for him.