Of all the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30; the same parable, with important differences, is the Parable of the Pounds in Luke 19:11-27), in my view, is the one most amenable to a capitalist interpretation – easily and often seen as an exhortation to invest one’s money to make money, at the highest possible rate.

Even so, this, in my calculation (!), would be a serious misreading of the parable.  It is indeed a parable that discusses money and investment at interest.  But it is not about that at all. I’ll explain.

But first, by way of summary (recall: a talent not a personal ability but a large unit of money):

A man goes on a long journey and entrusts money to three of his slaves: five talents to one, two to another, one to the third.  The first two invest the money at interest and double what they received.  When the man returns, he showers them with praise for their stewardship.  The third slave, however, fearful of losing the one talent entrusted to him, hides it away.  On the master’s return he gives it back to him, admitting he was afraid to invest it.  The master curses him for doing nothing with it, and has him severely punished.

It sure sounds like an encouragement to invest at high interest!  The “master” is Jesus (the “Lord”); the “slaves” are the ones who serve him (his followers); and they are being told to increase the wealth Jesus has given them.  Right?

Well, kinda.

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