Parable of the Leaven the entire quantity of dough has been affected. In the Gospel of Luke, the parable is as follows: This parable is part of a pair, and shares the meaning of the preceding Parable of the Mustard Seed, namely the powerful growth of the Kingdom of God from small beginnings. The final outcome is inevitable once the natural process of growth has begun. Although leaven symbolises evil influences elsewhere in the New Testament (as in Luke ), it is not generally interpreted that way in this parable. However, a few commentators do see the leaven as reflecting future corrupting influences in
Parable of the Tares Instead, Williams believed it was God's duty to judge in the end, not man's. This parable lent further support to Williams' Biblical philosophy of a wall of separation between church and state as described in his 1644 book, "The Bloody Tenent of Persecution". John Milton, in Areopagitica (1644), calling for freedom of speech and condemning Parliament's attempt to license printing, referred to this parable and the Parable of Drawing in the Net both only found in Matthew 13: (I)t is not possible for man to sever the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the other fry; that must