An Introduction to the Narrative Parables of Jesus
by Stephen I. Wright
I am very pleased to be able to offer a free download of the Rev. Dr. Stephen I. Wright’s book on the parables: Tales Jesus Told. This in-copyright work has been digitised and uploaded with the author’s permission.
The back cover reads, in part:
Stephen Wright explores the purpose and effect of Jesus' parables by reading them contextually against their cultural, political and social background. Although use of the parables as tools for preaching and teaching has neglected the original impact they had on Jesus' hearers, it is possible, with our knowledge of life in first-century Palestine, to feel that impact again.
By approaching the parables with an open mind, and reading them as stories that realistically reflect the world of Jesus' hearers, we are enabled to imagine His aims in the telling of a particular tale and the responses it might have received.
A detailed, engrossing and contextual study of Jesus' parables, Tales Jesus Told will be of particular interest to students of the New Testament and those who want to connect Jesus'teaching with the modern world.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
The Parables of Jesus
Jesus and First-Century Palestine
Rough Terrain: The Sower, Seed and Soils
Agricultural Sabotage: The Wheat and the Darnel
Dangerous Journey: The Good Samaritan
Storage Space: The Rich Fool
Fruit Delayed: The Barren Fig Tree
Family Threatened: The Prodigal Son
Looming Unemployment: The Shrewd Manager
Enforced Separation: The Rich Man and Lazarus
Godless Officialdom: The Judge and the Widow
Worshipping Apart: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Unpayable Debt: The Unforgiving Servant
Seasonal Survival: The Labourers in the Vineyard
Murderous Revolt: The Wicked Tenants
Vacant Places: The Wedding of the King's Son
The Great Banquet
Empty Flasks: The Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids
Playing Safe:
The Talents
The Pounds
Tellings of the Tales
The Profile of the Teller
Bibliography
Dr Wright is currently Vice-Pricipal Academic Dean at Spurgeon’s College, a post from which he retires from at the end of August 2023.
Thanks.