Preachers, in their call to preach the Scriptures, are not only charged with the responsibility of speaking its truth but of speaking in such a way that people of this age and culture understand. To do this, the preacher builds a bridge between todays people and the gospel of both testaments. For some, this task is more difficult than for others. Preaching to those living in an inner-city housing project is far removed from an outpost mission in the two-thirds world. Each community has its own way of thinking and attaches different values to symbols of its own making. For those called preach to a generation raised on MTV and late-night comedians or those rooted in various economic culturesfrom governmentsponsored jobs overseen by union bosses to entrepreneurial dot-com companiesor generations stretching from high school students to "freedom fifty-fivers," the task is enormous. When one adds to that the complexity of a radical shift in underlying intellectual and cultural assumptions, the task of preaching becomes even more complicated.
Jesus often taught His disciples and the multitudes by means of illustrative stories--parables. Warren W. Wiersbe has selected eleven noteworthy sermons on the parables of Jesus from some of Christian history's most notable preachers.
Reid aids preachers by bringing together current biblical research on the parables in the hope that it will open new vistas of meaning and help spark their creativity. She also offers an understanding of how parables communicate and invite preachers to try out the parabolic techniques of preaching. "Parables for Preachers" is for everyone interested in obtaining a deeper understanding of parables.
The parables of Jesus are puzzling sayings and stories with world-transforming potential. Parables for Preachersoffers an understanding of how parables work and a fresh variety of possible meanings not only for Jesus's original audience and for the early Christians for whom Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote but also for contemporary Christians as well. The Gospel parables are analyzed in the order in which they appear in the Lectionary, making this book an indispensable resource for preachers, teachers, catechists, liturgy planners, and Bible study groups. Barbara Reid is Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. She is the author of Matthewin the New Collegeville Bible Commentary series as well as Choosing the Better Part? Women in the Gospel of Luke, both published by Liturgical Press.
Parables make up one-third of Jesus' speech in the New Testament. In this volume, Richard Lischer provides an expert guide to these parables and proposes an important distinction between reading and interpreting the parables. Emphasizing the importance of reading the parables versus interpreting them, Lischer asserts that reading offers a kind of breathing space to explore historical, literary, theological, and socio-political dimensions of the parables and their various meanings, whereas interpreting implies an expert and critical position that must be defended. In this volume, Lischer lays out four theories for reading parables: 1) parables obscure truth; 2) parables teach many truths; 3) parables teach one truth; and 4) parables undermine the truth. Ultimately, he concludes that biblical parables undermine dominant myths called "the truth" to shine light on the Truth that is Jesus, God's presence with us.