Was God too harsh in the parable of the foolish virgins

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But none of us have infinite opportunities to repent. You could die in the next hour. Why would you think you have infinite opportunities?
 
Because God is described as having limitless mercy? unless you take the view of St Alphonsus Liguori who believed that God would only pardon a certain number of sins.
 
A simple fact one should always keep in mind when reading about God or just thinking about God: God is perfect. There are no flaws in God. God has never been too harsh or too merciful. All of God’s actions are perfect.

But in regards to the parables in the Bible, I agree with a previous poster: one shouldn’t normally take them at face value. They’re there to drive home a point. That’s all.
 
IMO the point of the parable is that when you stop being vigilant, you will fall into many sins and lose your soul. That is why we must persevere to the end.
 
How can it be possible to lose your soul if you are not vigilant enough? Persevering is important i agree.
 
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oliver109 said:
How can it be possible to lose your soul if you are not vigilant enough?
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It is because of what can lead you to. Once you do not have the bridegroom in your mind and heart, the devil, the world and the flesh will pull you down into many sins.
 
It is a bit hard to understand, are you trying to say that the devil can have such a grip on a person that they basically become wedded to sin?
 
But because of that unpreparedness, they didn’t have time to know Jesus more and they fall into right things.
 
oliver109 said:
In my opinion their sin was not as great as the sin of Judas
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One of the reasons Jesus told parables was precisely to make us feel the gap between our own opinions and expectations and the way God does things, which often runs contrary to what we’re taught is “just” (either because we find it too harsh, or because we find it too kind, as in the parable of the workers of the eleventh hour).

Cling to that uneasy feeling. It’s there to help you get deeper in the realization that, as Isaiah says, “my [God’s] thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways”.
 
It’s a parable, not an actual judgment on a bunch of real people.

If some virgin in real life was unprepared and didn’t have enough oil, the Lord would no doubt look at all the reasons why this may have happened and perhaps be merciful. However, a parable is meant to teach you a lesson, not present an individual real life case.

Anyway if you think you’re unprepared, lazy and unvigilant, hopefully you’re trying to improve that, and asking God to help you do better or be merciful to you, rather than just boo-hooing and saying God you’re too harsh.
 
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oliver109 said:
Does that really deserve the sort of treatment they were subjected to as a result i.e total banishment and an unforgiving master?
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This is a parable! Parables are not direct catechesis. They start with what is known to the listeners.
Some masters they knew about were unforgiving. That’s just a reality.

Examples given by Jesus also exaggerate to make a memorable point (did you ever see someone with a beam sticking out of their eye?) No? But don’t you think that’s a memorable illustration?

Actions, and certain periods of passivity, inattention, unpreparedness, have consequences in this life, too. His listeners could see that. The deeper metaphor would sink in, sooner for some, later for others.
 
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The virgins had to wait longer than they had expected, and they fell asleep.

Interesting that falling asleep is a metaphor for death…

When they were about to come into the presence of the Lord, 5 of them were prepared.

Five had let their lights go out.

Could this be saying (especially in context of what follows: the parable of the talents and the discourse on the sheep and goats), that we must prepare for death? That there comes a time when it is too late?
 
The parable’s message is about the oil in the lamps which the Eastern Orthodox saint, St. Seraphim of Sarov refers to the indwelling of Holy Spirit within you. One must have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you if there is this marriage feast between you and God. Many people do not acquire the Holy Spirit because of their sinful lives. Their sins however must be great to prevent the Holy Spirit to dwell. In the Catholic Church it is only mortal sin that drives out the Holy Spirit if that person was baptized. That does not mean the person is in a state of hell but the person is now devoid of the Grace of God that was dwelling inside them. Contrition and repentance however will bring back this Grace. The point in the parable is we need the Holy Spirit dwelling in us when the marriage feast comes in its fulfillment. When we do not have the Holy Spirit than the door is close for us. The Holy Spirit is necessary to our lives and to enter into the Kingdom of God.
 
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