[Greek] ἄκαρπος (akarpos), [Latin] efficere sin fructu (to produce no fruit), [Latin] sin fruct (without fruit), [Latin] infructuosia (unfruitful): without fruit, barren, useless, unproductive, fruitless; Mt.13:22, Mk.4:19, Eph.5:11, Tit.3:14, 2Pet,1:8, Jud 12
The Parable of the Sower: painting by Peter Bruegel (1552)
Background information:
Parable of the Sower:
- Peter Bruegel was famous for his ability to hide deeper spiritual meanings in everyday scenes in his paintings.
- The sower himself is seen spreading seeds on good soil, stony soil, and soil choked by thorns.
- The seeds were also partly devoured by birds. To the right, down the hill, the seed has fallen on good soil.
- The sower, distracted, looks to his left. On the right bank of the river, Jesus is seen preaching the parable to the crowd.
Greek Hellenism: This term means without fruit, barren, fruitless, and unprofitable.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus 254: “And I order you to make all these words good, for my sake, the sake of the god, and for the sake of our land, thus rendered unfruitful and ungodly.”
Plato’s Timaus 91c: “And if women again, owing to the same causes, whenever the matrix or womb, as it is called,–which is and indwelling creature desirous of child-bearing,–remains without fruit long beyond the due season, it is vexed and takes ill.”
Plato’s Phaedrus 276e: “When one employs the dialectic method (conversation) and plants and sows in a fitting soul intelligent words which are able to help themselves and him who planted them, which are not fruitless, yield seed from which there spring up in other minds other words capable of continuing the process for ever.”
Old Testament: This term means death-shadow, evil, distress, shadow of death, deep darkness, and place of the dead. Interestingly, all scriptures essentially refer to a region of darkness. This is a region where a shepherd would sometimes lead his sheep through to get to new or better pastures.
New Testament: This term means unfruitful (without fruit, useless, idle, unproductive, and bearing no fruit.
In the Parable of the Sower, the seed, sown among thorns, bears no fruit. This seed is likened to the one who later loses faith because of world anxiety and the lure of riches. Paul states that the mind must be fruitful (active) along with the spirit in prophecy. One must be fruitful if one seeks to be righteous. The works of darkness are unfruitful. The fruits of the Christian virtues is knowledge of Christ. The false teachers are fruitless trees, dead, dried up, and rooted up.
Scripture:
Mt.13:22: “The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the Word, but then world anxiety and the lure of riches choke the Word and it bears no fruit.” (This is the person who does not have a solid foundation of faith. He loses his faith when anxiety and riches come. This person becomes distracted [seduced] and loses his faith.)
Eph.5:11: “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them.”
- Paul calls us to not be deceived by empty arguments.
- The wrath of God will come upon the disobedient who engage in these evil fruits of the flesh which come from the prince of darkness.
- By these false prophets’ fruits you will know them. (Mt.7:17). To be unfruitful means to receive condemnation.
- It is through weakness, cowardice, and indulgence that unfruitful works of darkness occur.
- Paul calls us to not be associated with them. It is not enough to have no fellowship with them. You also must expose them.
- Everything exposed by the light becomes visible.
- Serious nature of fruits of darkness: Rev.18:4 alludes to the partakers of the sins (fruits of darkness) of Babylon.
2Pet.1:8: “If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Being idle and unfruitful means doing nothing [void of good works]. The Christian virtues can build up one’s faith in the knowledge of the Lord.)
Jud.12: “These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They [false teachers] are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted.” (These false teachers engage in scandalous conduct disrupting the love feasts. These false teachers are fruitless trees, dead and dried up.)
False teachers:
- The Lord destroyed those that did not believe.
- The angels were kept in eternal chains.
- They engaged in sexual promiscuity and unnatural vice
- They defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings.
- They revile what they do not understand.
- They are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.
- They followed the way of Cain an abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error (following one’s own desires rather than of God’s will).
- They are fruitless trees.
Etymology: It is curious to note that the Latin translations for this term seem complex or complicated. However, it is also interesting to note that the Latin word verb fruere means to enjoy. So this is where we get the ‘fruits’ of these modern words below.
Conclusion
Fruit, fructose, fruitful, fruitless, unfruitful
The Dutch painter Peter Bruegel presents a captivating image of the parable of the sower. The distracted sower provides an iconic image of a person with a short lived faith.
In the Greek Hellenistic era, Plato interestingly refers to the womb as a matrix. Being fruitful means being with child. Plato posits that a productive dialogue will produce fruitful words and conversation. Sophocles also states that effective words are fruitful.
In the Old Testament, this term takes on a much darker sense of distress, darkness, and death. The shadow of death can be used literally and metaphorically. The shepherd leading his sheep through this dark valley to newer pastures provides a vivid picture of this term.
In the New Testament, this term means unfruitful, idle, useless, and temporary. Unfruitful can mean evil works, working against God.
WARNING—USELESS WORDS ALERT–
Infructuous: pointless or unnecessary
Infructescence: an aggregate fruit
Infructuose: not yielding fruit
Update: Worldly ways, secularism, sin, fame, fortune, notoriety, money, success can often choke off one’s faith.
Toleration, inclusion, and “mercy above else” can essentially become “a gate-way “drug” to potential sinful activity. It is only human nature to not be seen as rigid, and hateful from others. This allows permissiveness of their sinful behavior.
Pope Francis’ papacy has been defined by liturgical confusion and chaos, toleration, permissiveness, and changing of Church teachings. These has been permitted under the guise of meeting people where they are.
The Church meeting people where they are: this will lead to changing, watering down, and changing the Church to adapt to the people’s desire.
The new synodal Church is now being made in the image of man and his lived experiences. This is a synodal Church moving the world.
The new synodal Church, serving a huge LGBTQ “outreach” are now seeking to ignore, to de-stigmatize, and to normalize the sin of homosexuality. These actions seek to allow to make this an acceptable lifestyle, inspite of the existing Church’s teachings against homosexuality.
Efforts later will be made to develop social teaching theology to make this lifestyle acceptable to the world.
There continues to be battle between traditionally minded Catholics (seeking to uphold Tradition and traditional Church teachings) and the Modernists (Synodalists) who seek to remake the Church in man’s image
To be honest, I have to say that Peter Bruegel’s painting was very ‘fruitful’ in illustrating the meaning of Parable of the Sower. It is my hope that this post may help to plant some seeds of faith for each of us fellow sowers.