![]() Some who want to advance the doctrine about the soul sleeping until the resurrection want this story to be a fable, but it is not a fable. There is Hades with its flames and the thirsting for water for those who are there. There are angels who carry the righteous to a place of bliss, and there are either comforts or torments on the other side. So whether the rich man and Lazarus ever lived makes no difference in the truths surrounding them. Each of these could have happened! They are vastly different from fairy tales or fables. By definition they are “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.” They concern men building houses, farmers sowing their fields, merchants, fishermen, families and their interactions, and a host of other earthly stories. On the other hand, there are the parables of Jesus. They all contain moral truths, but no one, other than small children, would ever think they are factual accounts. The truth is that these stories never happened, nor could they happen. In these fables, the animals talked and interacted in conversation with each other and with people they met. He wrote of wolves, wasps, snakes, dogs, fleas, oxen, flies, dolphins, donkeys, cats, horses, goats, camels, mice, weasels, lions, ants, frogs, bees, sheep, deer, mules, elephants, bears, locusts, chickens, gnats, rabbits, swans, crabs, and geese. He lived at least 600 years before the Lord and wrote many stories containing moral truths. Both are stories with moral teachings, but what is the distinction between them? To do this we must first consider the definition of two words: fables and parables. Some have asked if they actually lived or if this is a parable of Jesus.īefore dealing with this question we need to define a parable. The beggar was blessed, but he who lived in luxury was tormented in the flames of Hades. When they both died, their roles were reversed. While they lived on this earth, the wealth of one and the poverty of the other was obvious to all. ![]() The story of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16 has fascinated Bible students for years.
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