The power of parable [eBook - NC Digital Library] : How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus

In 1969, I was teaching at two seminaries inthe Chicago area. One of my courses was on the parables by Jesus and the other was on the resurrection stories about Jesus. I had observed that the parabolic stories by Jesus seemed remarkably similar to the resurrection stories about Jesus. Were the latter intended asparables just as much as the former? Had we been reading parable, presuming history, and misunderstanding both?—from __The Power of Parable__ So begins the quest of renowned Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan as he unlocks the true meanings and purposes of parable in the Bible so that modern Christians can respond genuinely to Jesus's call to fully participate in the kingdom ofGod. In __The Power of Parable__, Crossan examines Jesus's parables and identifies what he calls the"challenge parable" as Jesus's chosen teaching tool for gently urging his followers to probe, question, and debate the ideological absolutes of religious faith and the presuppositions of social, political,and economic traditions. Moving from parables __by__ Jesus to parables about Jesus, Crossan then presents the four gospels as"megaparables." By revealing how the gospels are not reflections of the actual biography of Jesus but rather (mis)interpretations by the gospel writers themselves, Crossan reaffirms the power of parables to challenge and enable us to co-create withGod a world of justice, love, and peace. In 1969, I was teaching at two seminaries inthe Chicago area. One of my courses was on the parables by Jesus and the other was on the resurrection stories about Jesus. I had observed that the parabolic stories by Jesus seemed remarkably similar to the resurrection stories about Jesus. Were the latter intended asparables just as much as the former? Had we been reading parable, presuming history, and misunderstanding both? —from The Power of Parable So begins the quest of renowned Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan as he unlocks the true meanings and purposes of parable in the Bible so that modern Christians can respond genuinely to Jesus's call to fully participate in the kingdom ofGod. In The Power of Parable , Crossan examines Jesus's parables and identifies what he calls the"challenge parable" as Jesus's chosen teaching tool for gently urging his followers to probe, question, and debate the ideological absolutes of religious faith and the presuppositions of social, political,and economic traditions. Moving from parables by Jesus to parables about Jesus, Crossan then presents the four gospels as"megaparables." By revealing how the gospels are not reflections of the actual biography of Jesus but rather (mis)interpretations by the gospel writers themselves, Crossan reaffirms the power of parables to challenge and enable us to co-create withGod a world of justice, love, and peace. In 1969, I was teaching at two seminaries inthe Chicago area. One of my courses wason the parables by Jesus and the other wason the resurrection stories about Jesus. I hadobserved that the parabolic stories by Jesusseemed remarkably similar to the resurrectionstories about Jesus. Were the latter intended asparables just as much as the former' Had webeen reading parable, presuming history, andmisunderstanding both''from The Power of Parable So begins the quest of renowned Jesus scholarJohn Dominic Crossan as he unlocks the truemeanings and purposes of parable in the Bible sothat modern Christians can respond genuinely toJesus's call to fully participate in the kingdom ofGod. In The Power of Parable, Crossan examinesJesus's parables and identifies what he calls the"challenge parable" as Jesus's chosen teaching toolfor gently urging his followers to probe, question, and debate the ideological absolutes of religiousfaith and the presuppositions of social, political, and economic traditions. Moving from parables by Jesus to parables aboutJesus, Crossan then presents the four gospels as"megaparables." By revealing how the gospels arenot reflections of the actual biography of Jesus butrather (mis)interpretations by the gospel writersthemselves, Crossan reaffirms the power of parablesto challenge and enable us to co-create withGod a world of justice, love, and peace "One of the main ways Jesus taught people was through the use of parables. Through an exploration of the literary genre popular in the ancient world, distinguished Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan dissects the versions we read in the Gospels to get back to what Jesus really intended to teach. Next, Crossan reveals how Jesus's use of parables inspired the Gospel writers themselves to come up with meaningful, metaphorical stories of Jesus to help them explain their own views of who they thought this Messiah really was. By unlocking the meaning and purposes of the Gospel's parables, we can arrive at a better portrait of this enigmatic and charismatic Jewish figure who transformed his world and the next two thousand years of history"-- Provided by publisher