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    The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus

    The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus

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    by John Dominic Crossan

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      ISBN-13: 9780062098337
    • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
    • Publication date: 03/06/2012
    • Sold by: HARPERCOLLINS
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 272
    • File size: 688 KB

    John Dominic Crossan, professor emeritus at DePaul University, is widely regarded as the foremost historical Jesus scholar of our time. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Historical Jesus, How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian, God and Empire, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, The Greatest Prayer, The Last Week, and The Power of Parable. He lives in Minneola, Florida.

    Table of Contents

    Prologue Story and Metaphor 1

    Part I Parables Told by Jesus

    1 Riddle Parables 13

    So That They May Not Understand

    2 Example Parables 29

    Go and Do-or Don't Do-Likewise

    3 Challenge Parables: Part I 45

    Down from Jerusalem to Jericho

    4 Challenge Parables: Part II 65

    The Word Against the Word

    5 Challenge Parables: Part III 89

    Let Anyone with Ears to Hear Listen!

    6 The Kingdom of God 113

    The Challenge of Collaboration

    The Lure of Parabolic History 141

    Caesar at the Rubicon

    Part II Parables Told about Jesus

    7 A Hymn for the Nameless 157

    The Parable Gospel according to Mark

    8 Rhetorical Violence 177

    The Parable Gospel according to Matthew

    9 Rome as the New Jerusalem 197

    The Parable Gospel according to Luke-Acts

    10 The Visionary Dream of God 219

    The Parable Gospel according to John

    Epilogue History and Parable 243

    Scripture Index 253

    What People are Saying About This

    Amy-Jill Levine

    “Moving from the parables of Israel’s Scriptures to the parables told by Jesus of Nazareth to the parables of his life recorded in the ancient Gospels, Crossan combines acute historical investigation with challenging theological observation. In so doing, he recovers the profundity, and the provocation, of the biblical tradition.”

    Marcus J. Borg

    “A remarkable and important book for Christians and for all who seek to understand the Bible better—Crossan combines his customary literary and historical brilliance with fresh insights that illuminate not only the parables of Jesus but much of the Bible as a whole.”

    John Shelby Spong

    “A refreshing and stunningly insightful treatment of the gospels as parables. In this book John Dominic Crossan has solidified his reputation as the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation.”

    Marvin Meyer

    “John Dominic Crossan has done it again. His innovative presentation of how Jesus told stories about God’s kingdom and how the gospel authors told stories about Jesus offers a brilliant new way of looking at parable and metaphor in the gospels and in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.”

    David Felten & Jeff Procter-Murphy

    “This book is like unto a virus, which a crafty leprechaun took, and infected our preferred operating systems with a Jesus O/S, that is incompatible with previous versions. Verily I say unto ye, Fortunate is the church if a little Crossan goes viral. It may leaveneth the whole lump.”

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    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.

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    Bibles & Christianity
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    General & Miscellaneous Religion
    General Christianity
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    Parables
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    Bibles & Christianity
    Religion
    Christianity
    General & Miscellaneous Religion
    General Christianity
    Jesus Christ
    Parables
    Religion - General & Miscellaneous
    Booklist
    "Crossan’s exceptional clarity and methodical presentation combine to make this one of the best, most enthralling Bible-study courses many readers will ever take."
    John Shelby Spong
    A refreshing and stunningly insightful treatment of the gospels as parables. In this book John Dominic Crossan has solidified his reputation as the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation.
    Marvin Meyer
    John Dominic Crossan has done it again. His innovative presentation of how Jesus told stories about God’s kingdom and how the gospel authors told stories about Jesus offers a brilliant new way of looking at parable and metaphor in the gospels and in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
    Amy-Jill Levine
    Moving from the parables of Israel’s Scriptures to the parables told by Jesus of Nazareth to the parables of his life recorded in the ancient Gospels, Crossan combines acute historical investigation with challenging theological observation. In so doing, he recovers the profundity, and the provocation, of the biblical tradition.
    Rev. David Felten & Rev. Jeff Procter-Murphy
    This book is like unto a virus, which a crafty leprechaun took, and infected our preferred operating systems with a Jesus O/S, that is incompatible with previous versions. Verily I say unto ye, Fortunate is the church if a little Crossan goes viral. It may leaveneth the whole lump.
    Marcus J. Borg
    A remarkable and important book for Christians and for all who seek to understand the Bible better—Crossan combines his customary literary and historical brilliance with fresh insights that illuminate not only the parables of Jesus but much of the Bible as a whole.
    Booklist (starred review)
    Crossan’s exceptional clarity and methodical presentation combine to make this one of the best, most enthralling Bible-study courses many readers will ever take.
    Reverend - David Felten & Jeff Procter-Murphy
    "This book is like unto a virus, which a crafty leprechaun took, and infected our preferred operating systems with a Jesus O/S, that is incompatible with previous versions. Verily I say unto ye, Fortunate is the church if a little Crossan goes viral. It may leaveneth the whole lump."
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