Don: All the great faiths seek to explain the afterlife. The prevailing notion is, and has long been, that this mortal life is not the end of the story; that something happens after death, and that what we do in this life affects what happens then. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, which we…

Don: It seems that God’s plan was for Him and us to live together in harmonious unity. In the garden of Eden, the prohibition against eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil made it unnecessary for us to discriminate between good and bad, right and wrong. It was God’s divine prerogative to…

Don: Many people believe that the way we live today affects our future. Most religions link a life well lived to a future of contented opportunity, if not bliss. The concept goes by many names: Heaven, paradise, moksha, nirvana, Valhalla, the heavenly garden of Eden, and so on. For the most part, these places are…

Don: We’ve discussed two parables involving vineyards: One in which the vineyard workers were all paid the same wages regardless of how many hours they worked, and one in which the vineyard owner asked his two sons to go do some work in his vineyard (with one promising to do so but then reneging on…

Don: After the Pharisees demanded to know of Jesus the authority for His ministry, He recited a parable, now known as the parable of the Two Sons: “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I…

Don: Where does religion come from? Do we need it, and if so, why? After His triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, His cleansing of the temple, and His instant withering of a barren fig tree, the Jewish religious authorities demanded that Jesus reveal the authority for His acts. As was so often the case, He answered…