One of the interesting things about some of Jesus’ parables is that he sometimes explained what the parable meant. In September, I wrote a two-part series on the Parable of the Sower (here and here), where I discussed how Jesus explicitly stated the meaning of the parable. Coincidentally, Jack @ Sigma Frame—a member of the Radix Fidem cult—posted on the same topic in “The Parable of the Seeds : Red Pill Edition” where he re-imagined the Parable of the Sower in a way that—to put it mildly—had nothing to do with Jesus’ teaching.

Now more of the same bad fruit of Radix Fidem has been produced in the same way; this time in a comment by Catacomb Resident, another member of the Radix Fidem cult. Like Jack’s twisting of the Parable of the Sower, Catacomb Resident is twisting the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

For those who do not know, Catacomb Resident is invested in reinterpreting the Bible to conform to his so-called “Ancient Near East” cultural understanding. Those viewpoints are being referred to by the terms “divine priorities” and “covenant commitment.” They may sound vaguely biblical, but they are not.

Notice how CR defines one’s neighbor as “one who shares a covenant commitment.” Now let’s read the parable, and see what Jesus has to say:

The Parable of the Good Samaritan begins with Jesus’ teaching on the Law of Love. One cannot understand the Good Samaritan without also understanding Jesus’ Law of Love.

Recall how I wrote in “Heart and Mind, Redux” that it is in the Law of Love that Jesus emphasized using one’s mind (e.g. critical thinking). Radix Fidem—in true gnostic form—rejects the use of the mind in favor of a purely heart-led approach. In doing so, it falsely divides one’s being into separable parts (just like in Greek philosophy).

The Law of Love states that to love God and live, you must use your entire being, not just your heart. Salvation itself requires the mind!

Now, let’s read the rest of the Parable.

The error in Catacomb Resident defining a neighbor as “one who shares a covenant commitment” is simple. The definition given for the neighbor is “one who shows you mercy,” not “one who shares a covenant commitment.”

What makes someone your neighbor is not what you do to or for them. It has nothing at all to do with your own actions, rather it is is based entirely on what they do to or for you. So, if a Gentile—who does not share the covenant commitment of Israel—shows you mercy, he is your neighbor.

Take time to think about this.

Now, there is even more to this story. If someone shows you mercy, he is your neighbor, but you are not his neighbor unless you do the same. See, the Samaritans and Jews—both ethnic Israelites—unambiguously shared the same covenant commitment. But in the story, the Jewish Levite and the Jewish priest were not neighbors to the beaten Jewish man even though they shared the same covenant commitment. Why? Because they personally failed to show him mercy.

This is very important. Men who shared a covenant commitment were not neighbors to one another because they failed to show mercy. Thus, by logical contradiction, it is false that the Hebrew concept of “neighbor” is one who shares a covenant commitment.

This is obviously the case.

Having established what a neighbor was, did Jesus instruct the lawyer to seek out like-minded men who shared a common covenant commitment? No, he said “go and do likewise.” Go, and show mercy. Now, do you recall what Jesus said after citing the Law of Love? “Do this.” Jesus explicitly told the lawyer that his obligation was to show mercy and to love.

Does this sound familiar?

To fail to love, to fail to show mercy is to be unfaithful and to break the covenant with God.

Jesus was not concerned with men finding neighbors, he was concerned with men being neighbors by loving and showing mercy.

The idea that we are not supposed to show love and mercy to strangers, or that sacrificial love requires a reciprocal covenant relationship is clearly not supported by Jesus’ own explicit teaching. Jesus taught that we must love our enemies!

Love and mercy are not restricted to fellow believers. The whole point of the Good Samaritan is that you are supposed to make your others your neighbors by loving them and showing them mercy! This necessarily includes your enemies. For in loving them and showing them mercy, you prove that even though they are your enemy, you are not theirs: you are their neighbor.

Jesus did not teach the lawyer that all he had to do was love him in order to become mutual neighbors only with all the other men who also love Jesus.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one who noticed Catacomb Resident’s misuse of scripture (which, incidentally, Radix Fidem member Jack defended, and commenter Deti liked):

As of this writing, Catacomb Resident has not clarified.