Interpreting the Parables

includes index and biblioraphy

1 Introduction ......17 The previous scholarly consensus .....19 The sizable minority report .....23 Newest developments .......25 The scope and outline of this book ....27 Part one Methods controversies in interpreting the parables 2 Parable & Allegory .....33 The current debate: Two main approaches ......33 Parable vs Allegory ......33 Parable as Allegory ......40 Evaluating the debate .....55 Contemporary literary criticism .....58 The rabbinic parables .....68 Conclusions .......79 3 Form criticism & the parables .....82 Classical form criticism .....83 The method .....83 Critique .....86 Hypotheses of the guarded tradition .....108 Memorizing jesus teachings .....109 New insights into oral folklore and social memory ......111 Conclusions .......117 4 Redaction criticism of the parables .....119 Positive contributions .......122 The illustration of distinctive themes ......122 The significance of the larger contexts .....128 Invalid allegations .....136 Misleading parallels ....136 Dictional analysis .....137 The theology-history dichotomy ....137 Prophecy after the event .....138 Characterizing the parables in different synoptic sources ......139 Mistaking stylistic for theological redaction .....141 Misrepresenting the theology of an evangelist .....143 Conclusions .....147 5 New literary & hermeneutical methods .....151 The new hermeneutic ......152 The new view of metaphor .....154 A critique of the new view of metaphor .......156 Structuralism ....164 The ideology .....165 The method .....166 Surface structures ....169 Poststructuralism/postmodernism ......171 Deconstruction ....172 Reader-response criticism .......174 Other literary approaches .....180 Sociological approaches .......184 Conclusions ......188 Conclusions to part one .....192 Part two The meaning & significance of individual parables 6 Simple three-point parables .......197 The prodigal son (Lk15:11-32) ........198 The lost sheep and lost coin (LK 15:4-10; cf. Mt 18:12-14) ........211 The two debtors (Lk 7:41-43) .......22 The two sons (Mt 21:28-32) .....226 Faithful and unfaithful servants (LK 12:42-48;Mt 24:45-51) ........233 The ten virgins (mt 25:1-13) .....238 The wheat and the tares (Mt 13:24-30,36-43) ......244 The dragnet (Mt 13:47-50) ........251 The rich man and lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) .......254 The children in the marketplace (Mt 11:16-19; Lk 7:31-35) ..........262 Conclusions ......267 7 Complex three-point parables .....269 The talents (Mt 25:14-30; cf LK 19:12-27) .....269 The laborers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) ......281 The sower (MK 4:3-9, 13-20 Pars) ......288 The good samaritan (Lk 10:25-37) ........295 The great supper (Lk 14:15-14;cf Mt 22:1-14) .........303 The unprofitable servant (Lk 17:7-10) .......314 The unjust steward (Lk 16:1-13) .......322 The wicked tenants (Mk 12:1-12 pars) .....329 Conclusions .......338 8 Two-point & one-point parables .....340 Two-point parables .......340 The pharisee and the tax collector (Lk 18:9-14) .......340 The two builders (Mt7:24-27; Lk 6:47-49) .....347 The unprofitable servant (Lk 17:7-10) .......351 The seed growing secretly (Mk 4:26-29) .....355 The rich fool (Lk 12:16-21) .....359 The barren fig tree (LK 13:6-9) ......363 The Unjust judge (LK 18:1-8) .......368 The friend at midnight (Lk 11:5-8) ........375 The householder and the thief (Mt 24:43-44; LK 12:39-40) .......379 One-point parables .....381 The hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Mt 13:44-46) .....381 The tower builder and the warring king (LK 14:28-33) ......385 Other passages .....396 The sheep and the goats (Mt25:31-46) ......396 Shorter metaphors ......403 Conclusions .......406 9 The theology of the parables: The kingdom & the christ .....408 Classification .....408 Kingdom theology ....416 Presentvs future ....418 Reign vs realm .......423 Personal transformation vs social reform .....426