Speaking Parables

David Buttrick provides an introduction to the parables with a discussion of particular homiletical issues preachers face in interpreting parables. Speaking Parables includes commentary on thirty-three different parables with suggestions for preaching each one.

"This book is not only absorbingly readable but important. For its themes engage effectively with main dilemmas not only of formal theology but of current piety and witness." - Amos N. Wilder, Andover Newton Quarterly "This book is immensely valuable for its persuasive illustrations of the parabolic and metaphoric imagination. McFague attends both to the interpretive and the evaluative levels of hermeneutics. Her readings of specific parables, poems, stories, and autobiographies are insightful and relevant to her thesis that what religious language 'says' is 'conceptually imperceivable and inexpressible.'" - Mary Gerhart, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "It is at the very least a fine guide to one important direction that theological hermeneutics might take, and more than that, it testifies confidently to the presence of still unplumbed resources of the biblical word and its secular counterpart that are there for the imagination's appropriation." - Robert Detweiler, Religious Studies Review "Everyone interested in theology will be stimulated by Sallie McFague's mediating theological position and the form of thinking and discourse she espouses. Those interested in the intercourse between theology and literature will be stimulated by the way she links the two and the perceptive way she handles her literary examples. Biblical scholars will undoubtedly note her primacy of the parables as the central corpus of the biblical records. Preachers of the church will be strengthened by the concern McFague has for the Christian community and the importance of the word through the words of the preachers. With this variety of concerns, Speaking in Parables will have a deservedly wide reading and, perhaps even more important, wide discussion." - Ronald E. Sleeth, Perkins School of Theology Journal

Many resources have been written to offer assistance in exploring and understanding the lectionary texts for the purpose of preaching. However, few have sought to provide this kind of preaching commentary on texts that do not follow the lectionary's grouping. For those whose preaching does not customarily follow the lectionary, and for those who depart from the lectionary text during certain periods of the year, little guidance has been offered for how to select, and preach on, important biblical texts. The Parables: A Preaching Commentary, the third book in The Great Texts series, gives guidance to preachers on preaching about this central part of faith. The principles by which volumes in The Great Texts series have been chosen are primarily two-fold: -Thematic: Texts on certain overarching themes or ideas of the Christian faith are brought together. -Biblical/traditional: Texts have long been recognized as belonging together, and as being particularly beneficial to the work of preaching.

A fresh look at the meaning of Jesus' parables for Christian living today. The parables recorded in the Gospels are central for an understanding of Jesus and his ministry. Yet the parables are more than simple stories; they present a number of obstacles to contemporary readers hoping to fully grasp their meaning. In this volume, thirteen New Testament scholars provide the background necessary to understand the original context and meaning of Jesus' parables as well as their modern applications, all in a manner easily accessible to general readers. Contributors: Stephen C. Barton Craig A. Evans Richard T. France Donald A. Hagner Morna D. Hooker Sylvia C. Keesmaat Michael P. Knowles Walter L. Liefeld Richard N. Longenecker Allan W. Martens Klyne R. Snodgrass Robert H. Stein Stephen I. Wright

Who do we meet in the stories Jesus told? In The Parables of Jesus the Galilean: Stories of a Social Prophet, a selection of the parables of Jesus is read using a social-scientific approach. The interest of the author is not the parables in their literary contexts, but rather the parables as Jesus told them in a first-century Jewish Galilean sociopolitical, religious, and economic setting. Therefore, this volume is part of the material turn in parable research and offers a reading of the parables that pays special attention to Mediterranean anthropology by stressing key first-century Mediterranean values. Where applicable, available papyri that may be relevant in understanding the parables of Jesus from a fresh perspective are used to assemble solid ancient comparanda for the practices and social realities that the parables presuppose. The picture of Jesus that emerges from these readings is that of a social prophet. The parables of Jesus, as symbols of social transformation, envisioned a transformed and alternative world. This world, for Jesus, was the kingdom of God.

This book contains informal expositions on several biblical parables to derive from them some principles for Christian living. The first chapter focuses on several relevant preliminary issues, such as the nature, purpose, and interpretation of parables. It then discuss the parables themselves in the subsequent chapters.

Revised thesis (doctoral) - Universitèat, Tèubingen, 2010.

A rich fool. A wayward son. A good but despised hero. A dubious but impressive manager. A persistent widow who would not be denied. What do all these characters have in common? Jesus! Jesus wove His narratives around these wildly different characters to teach us about the kingdom of God. In a world filled with so many voices struggling for attention and supremacy, the voice of Jesus echoes through the ages in the timeless parables He shared with us some 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ skillfully used storytelling as a powerful vehicle for delivering eternal and timeless truths about life, eternity, faith, religion, forgiveness, pride, greed, and many pertinent subjects. The question is: Why and how are these parables relevant to us today? This series answers the question. It promises to be an exciting and life-transforming read. Come along! This volume digs deep to reveal the hidden gems in the following powerful parables told by Jesus Christ: the Rich Fool, the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, the Prodigal Son, the Unmerciful Servant, the Good Samaritan, the Scribe or Household Treasures, The Travelling Owner of the House, the Faithful and Evil Servants, the Fishing Net. The parables centre on the subjects of forgiveness, greed, and wisdom.