How to Read the Bible for All its Worth

How to Read the Bible for All its Worth
Misinterpretation of Jesus’ Parables
Jesus Christ used to teach through parables to convey messages for various reasons. He used to end by saying that “those who have ears may hear." This was a methodology to teach in a language the audience understood well, based on daily life. Not all Holy Scriptures are well understood by those who teach them and listen to them; some refer to facts or environments of the time when they were written. Thus, the parables have often been misinterpreted if not used by correlating their original context with the present context of the audience for which they are intended.
Principles for Interpretation of a Parable
The principles for interpreting a parable are essential to understand it and make it understood by the recipients. They are five in number. Identifying the point of reference is necessary because the myths used by Jesus started from people's daily lives, based on words and images that are familiar to them.
The identification of the audience's public is the second principle which is close to the first either since the message conveyed by the preacher must be understood by the receivers without the need for explanation. Parable use must refer to people's daily lives, reflecting images they clearly understand.
The parables without context are parables that do not directly reveal the point of reference and which, like the others, must be read, reread, and contextualized to see this point of contact. Their environmental or historical context makes it possible to understand their point of reference to know how to adapt them to the target audience.
Kingdom parables call Christians to be ready for the Kingdom of God. These parables compare it, as with the other principles of para...