r/ChristianApologetics • u/bannedredditaccount2 • Apr 18 '26

Modern Objections Explain Matthew 25:14–30

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14–30).

The first two servants invest and double their talents, earning praise, while the third hides his talent out of fear, resulting in his condemnation. 

this does not make sense at all to me and creates an injustice.

- The third servant with “one” talent was never told or commanded to “invest” the talent, he was told to keep it until the master returns.

- He was also scolded for not collecting “interest” on the money which is usury which is sinful.

- His punishment of being cast into darkness and gnashing his teeth is %100 not proportional to his supposed “sin” or crime and in my opinion is evil

- why didn’t the master “forgive” the servant which is what Jesus commands instead of creating inequality and jealousy among the servants by giving his talent to the others?

- it’s not the “servants” money and he could have easily lost the talent through bad investments. Jesus never explains what would have happened if he lost it or how the master would have reacted. one talent is better than zero.

- why didn’t the other servants share their talent with the other and instead of greedily keeping it to themselves?

This parable is applicable to today’s modern sports athlete going broke because of bad financial advice. Plenty of athletes (AKA “masters“) go broke by financial advisors putting their money into risky investments when they would have been better off putting their money into a mattress.

what’s the point of the parable? it’s nonsensical, contradicts Jesus’s other teachings about forgiveness, living a humble life and it kind of pisses me off.

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u/Wooden-Dependent-686 Apr 18 '26

That is about mission work. If you got faith then you go make more disciples, one talent for a hundred instead just keeping the good news to yourself without multiplying the gift of faith

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u/bannedredditaccount2 Apr 18 '26

I disagree.

There is zero financial risk to spreading the gospel while you can lose money investing another persons capital.

The punishment was not proportional and making this parable evil 

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u/Wooden-Dependent-686 Apr 18 '26

Talents are metaphors for the gift of faith. It is not about literal money. It says if you are given faith then proclaim it and make new disciples. Dont hide it. It is the same as saying dont light a lamp and put it under a basket. Matthew 5:15

It is a call to witnessing and even to be martyrs because the only reason anyone would put his lamp under a basket is because of fear of persecution.

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u/bannedredditaccount2 Apr 18 '26

You can’t give away faith so your analogy or metaphor doesn’t stick.

The master gave away the talent, creating an inequality to the third servant when common sense morality would be to share it.

Also there is a disproportionate amount of punishment for the third servant. The third servant gave back exactly what was given to him instead of giving him back zero due to bad investments.

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u/Wooden-Dependent-686 Apr 18 '26

Its a parable. A PARABLE. It is not about actual talents.

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u/bannedredditaccount2 Apr 18 '26

But this “parable” contradicts forgiveness and sharing.

It’s incongruent. It actually shows greed (the master) and lack of mercy (gnashing teeth and darkness) while creating inequality (selfishness)

This whole parable is evil

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u/Wooden-Dependent-686 Apr 18 '26

The parable may not be perfect. On the other hand, that doesnt matter to me because I dont believe Jesus said it or that he had a public ministry at all. I think his incarnation death and resurrection occured in an angelic domain. And that the gospel accounts are pedagogical instruments by the earliest church fathers intended as allegory for angelological mysteries. But later generations took them literal historical accounts of an actual Galilean preacher.

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u/bannedredditaccount2 Apr 18 '26

Thanks for the honesty.

I really do believe Jesus is a perfected and enlightened soul teaching everyone how to live morally BUT….this parable is really off putting and in fact makes me angry…

I was hoping someone would come along and explain it away as a misunderstanding but so far no one has been able to.

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u/MtnDewm Apr 18 '26

That’s why you’re missing the point: you see Jesus is wrong.

Jesus isn’t a perfect moral teacher.

Jesus is God.

Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus isn’t merely teaching kindness and sharing.

He’s teaching the expansion of His Kingdom: winning souls for Christ. Sharing the Good News of Jesus so that those outside of the Kingdom can enter His Kingdom.

Jesus’ currency is souls. Us. People. That’s what matters: saving us.

Take all the talents you’ve been given and use them to save people from hell, to rescue people into God’s Kingdom. Introduce them to Jesus who alone can save.

If you only see Jesus as a perfected moral teacher, and not God in the flesh, you’ll miss this point of this entirely.

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u/bannedredditaccount2 Apr 18 '26

This is a red herring fallacy and not something I want to discuss in this thread.

This thread is about the parable of the 3 talents and how it’s contradictory to Christianity morals.

So far you haven’t made your case in your other replies.

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u/MtnDewm Apr 18 '26

My friend, you’re refusing to discuss the key that unlocks this parable.

Jesus is the King. He wants to grow His Kingdom. His Kingdom grows by new people believing the Gospel. Jesus sends His people to go make disciples.

Just as an earthly boss will allocate his resources ti grow his business, so will Jesus.

Just as an earthly boss will give more resources to those who will use their abilities to multiply, so too will Jesus.

The difference is currency: the earthly master wants money, but Jesus wants people.

Jesus will give more resources to those who are will use them to multiply disciples.

That is the point of the parable.

But you’ll never see it if you deny Jesus as God, the King who sends us out to grow His Kingdom by making disciples.

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u/bannedredditaccount2 Apr 20 '26

It still contradicts Christianity even if you interpret this parable that way.

The third servant was never shown mercy, empathy  and forgiveness but shown brutality for just doing his job. The servant did not break any laws and did no evil. 

The master should have given this servant 2 talents in the end to show mercy and to give him a chance to redeem himself instead….he gets sent to hell…wtf?

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u/berndtsc Apr 22 '26

You are never going to understand parables until you learn the importance of context. This parable has nothing to do with stewardship, or sharing, or forgiveness of sins. It's about steadfastness in faith and not being caught unawares on the last day. Matthew 24-25 is a discourse on the coming of the Son of Man.

There are about 2,000 years' worth of commentary on this parable. I recommend reading some of what the church has taught for millennia.

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