post: 3959995 said:First off, I do not have all the answers, and the more I learn the more I realize I don't know. I'm here really to glean something useful, chew the meat spit out the bones as they say.
Parables. He always taught in parables. I think they had/have more than 1 meaning. What, if any, associations do you find for the name Lazarus in the parable? I've read it's "God is my help" in Greek. Also, it's the same name of the servant of Abraham, of whom he was prepared to call his heir, (before his sons were born of course)
BTW, in your OP about torment being descriptive in regard to testing metal I have not heard, will have to research that further thanks.
I just wanted to address something you said because I think its important in the way you interpret scripture. Jesus did not "only" talk in parables. He used parables when talking to the crowd as they did not yet understand the spiritual truth he was trying to convey. Jesus used plain and simple language when talking to his disciples. This is true of the Luke 16 account. Therefore - Luke 16 - not a parable. There are other reasons its not a parable but i won't address those here. So if its not a parable what is it? It's an explanation of a real world event. It seems that Jesus being God did in fact have insight into these events. Names and facts are used. It is not a fictional event. And if it is not fictional event it speaks of the reality of a conscious hell. Also, a parable does in fact have a specific meaning so I'd be wary of applying all sorts of metaphorical interpretations to it. Yours in Christ.