Puzzling the Parables of Jesus: Methods and Interpretation.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zimmermann, Ruben, 1968-

Contributor:

Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jesus Christ--Parables.

Jesus Christ.

Parables.

Parables--History and criticism.

Parables, Biblical.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

496 pages ; 23 x 16 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : Fortress Press, 2015.

Summary:

Modern scholarship on the parables has long been preoccupied with asking what Jesus himself said and what he intended to accomplish with his parables. Ruben Zimmermann moves beyond that agenda to explore the dynamics of parabolic speech in all their rich complexity. Introductory chapters address the history of research and distinguish historical from literary and reader-oriented approaches, then set out a postmodern hermeneutic that analyses narrative elements and context, maps the sociohistorical background, explores stock metaphors and symbols, and opens up contemporary horizons of interpretation. Subsequent chapters then focus on one parable from early Christian sources (Q, Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and the Gospel of Thomas) to explore how parables function in each literary context.

Contents:

Preface and acknowledgments

part I. Three approaches to parables. 1. Introduction

2. Understanding the parables over the past century : an overview of the history of research

3. Historical approaches : parables as media for remembering Jesus

4. Literary approaches : the parable genre

a new definition

5. Reader-oriented approaches : a playing field for polyvalent parables

part II. How to interpret a parable. 6. Reading and analyzing parables

7. The lost sheep (Q/Luke 15:1-7) and the parables in Q

8. The mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32) and the parables in Mark

9. The ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13) and the parables in Matthew

10. The good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35) and the parables in Luke

11. The dying and living grain (John 12:24) and the parables in John

12. The empty jar (Gos. Thom. 97) and the parables in Thomas.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-450) and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Other Format:

Electronic version: Zimmermann, Ruben, 1968- Puzzling the parables of Jesus.

ISBN:

0800699750

9780800699758

OCLC:

936301924

Publisher Number:

99965375009