The Voice of Jesus

by Wright, Stephen I.; Dunn, James D. G.

• ISBN13: 9781556356490
• ISBN10: 1556356498
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-10-01
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

This book explores what it means to seek the "voice" of Jesus in his parables through the interpretive keys of literary tropes. Through a detailed discussion of significant periods of parable interpretation, with reference to six narrative parables peculiar to Luke's Gospel, it demonstrates the continued necessity of a creative response to an intention when confronted with figures of speech. Drawing on the long tradition of interpretation, a fresh hearing of the tone of the parables as exemplary tales is suggested, rooted in both the conditions of Jesus's contemporary culture and the Old Testament Scriptures. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Stephen Wright is Director of the College of Preachers, an ecumenical training agency based in London

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
The Voice and Figures of Jesus	p. 1
The Idea of a Voice	p. 1
Discerning a Voice: Figures of Speech	p. 3
Figures, Tropes and Parables	p. 6
Intention, Influence and Insight	p. 11
Intention	p. 12
Influence	p. 14
Insight	p. 17
Texts	p. 18
Notes	p. 19
Parables and Proclamation: Luke's Interpretation of the Parables	p. 30
Luke: the Intention to Interpret	p. 30
Luke's Interpretative Key: Metonymy	p. 31
Luke's Parable Interpretations	p. 33
The Six Parables	p. 33
Characters	p. 35
Wealth and Poverty	p. 37
Celebration and Friendship	p. 41
Compassion and Mercy	p. 44
Righteousness and Unrighteousness	p. 45
Life and Death	p. 48
Humiliation and Exaltation	p. 50
From Influence to Insight: The Voice of Jesus in Luke	p. 51
Notes	p. 55
The Age of Divine Meaning: Parable Interpretation from the Fathers to the Reformers	p. 62
A Heritage Misconstrued	p. 62
The Intention of the Premodern Commentators	p. 67
Ambrose and Bede	p. 68
Bonaventure	p. 71
Calvin	p. 73
The Premodern Commentators' Interpretative Keys: The Range of Tropes	p. 74
The Premodern Commentators' Parable Interpretations	p. 76
The Good Samaritan	p. 76
The Prodigal Son	p. 79
The Shrewd Steward	p. 85
The Rich Man and Lazarus	p. 90
The Judge and the Widow	p. 95
The Pharisee and the Customs Officer	p. 96
From Influence to Insight: The Voice of Jesus in the Premodern Commentators	p. 97
Notes	p. 100
The Age of Historical Quest: The Parable Interpretation of Adolf Julicher	p. 113
Julicher and Historical Criticism	p. 113
The Intention of Julicher	p. 114
Julicher's Interpretative Key: Simile	p. 115
Julicher's Parable Interpretations	p. 118
The Good Samaritan	p. 118
The Prodigal Son	p. 119
The Shrewd Steward	p. 122
The Rich Man and Lazarus	p. 124
The Judge and the Widow	p. 125
The Pharisee and the Customs Officer	p. 126
From Influence to Insight: The Voice of Jesus in Julicher	p. 127
Notes	p. 141
The Age of the Reader: The Parable Interpretation of Bernard Brandon Scott	p. 151
The Escape from 'Severe History'	p. 151
The Intention of Scott	p. 155
Scott's Interpretative Key: Metaphor	p. 158
Scott's Parable Interpretations	p. 160
The Good Samaritan	p. 160
The Prodigal Son	p. 162
The Shrewd Steward	p. 166
The Rich Man and Lazarus	p. 167
The Judge and the Widow	p. 168
The Pharisee and the Customs Officer	p. 169
From Influence to Insight: The Voice of Jesus in Scott	p. 170
Notes	p. 177
Parables and Persuasion: The Voice of Jesus in his Contemporary Context	p. 182
The Synchronic Context of Jesus: Society and Faith	p. 182
Inadequate Interpretative Keys	p. 185
Metaphor	p. 185
Metonymy	p. 186
Irony	p. 187
Hyperbole	p. 187
Synecdoche as an Interpretative Key	p. 193
Whole to Part: world into story	p. 195
Part to Whole: story into world	p. 201
The Voice of Jesus in Synchronic Perspective: Gracious Wisdom	p. 207
Notes	p. 212
Parables and Precursors: The Voice of Jesus and the Voices of Scripture	p. 227
The Diachronic Context of Jesus: Scripture	p. 227
The Parables' Continuity with Scripture	p. 229
Synecdoche and Wisdom	p. 230
Synecdoche and Sacred History	p. 231
Synecdoche and Law	p. 232
Synecdoche and Prophecy	p. 234
Jesus and 'Conventional Wisdom'	p. 235
Interpretative Keys: The Parables' Troping of Scripture	p. 235
Irony and normality	p. 236
Synecdoche and narrativity	p. 236
Metonymy and brevity	p. 237
Hyperbole and humanity	p. 237
Metaphor and fictionality	p. 238
Metalepsis and allusiveness	p. 238
The Voice of Jesus in Diachronic Perspective: New and Old	p. 240
Notes	p. 241
The Story of a Voice	p. 246
Notes	p. 250
Bibliography	p. 253
Index of Ancient Literature	p. 269
Old Testament	p. 269
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha	p. 270
New Testament	p. 270
Parables	p. 273
Index of Greek Words	p. 274
Index of Authors	p. 275
Index of Subjects	p. 279
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