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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
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      • 2023 Called Together in an Age of Discord
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      • 2007 Friendship
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    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
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    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
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      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
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      • Lent
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      • Monasticism Old and New
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      • Mysticism
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      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Parables
  • Faith Animating Online Education
  • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
  • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
  • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
  • Recommended Reading
  • External Resources
  • The Christian Reflection Project
    • Acedia
    • Advent Ethics
    • Aging
    • Anger
    • Apocalyptic Vision
    • Attentive Patience
    • The Book of Acts
    • Caring for Creation
    • Catechism
    • Chastity
    • Children
    • Christianity and Islam
    • Christmas and Epiphany
    • Cities and Towns
    • Cloning
    • Consumerism
    • Death
    • Disability
    • Easter
    • Food and Hunger
    • Forgiveness
    • Freedom
    • Friendship
    • Gambling Culture
    • Generosity
    • Global Wealth
    • Health
    • Heaven and Hell
    • Hospitality
    • Immigration
    • Inklings of Glory
    • Lent
    • The Letter of James
    • Marriage
    • Membership
    • Monasticism Old and New
    • Moral Landscape of Creation
    • Mysticism
    • Parables
    • Patterns of Violence
    • Peace and War
    • Pentecost
    • Pornographic Culture
    • Prayer
    • Prison
    • Prophetic Ethics
    • Racism
    • Sabbath
    • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
    • Scripture
    • Sermon on the Mount
    • Singing Our Lives
    • Sports
    • Suffering
    • Traveling Well
    • Virtual Lives
    • Vocation
    • Where Wisdom Is Found
    • Women and the Church
    • Women in the Bible
    • Work

Parables

Jesus loved to tell parables—perplexing, yet revealing stories that teach us, spiritually blind and self-deceived as we are, to see reality beyond ourselves and to know God's love and loving demands on our lives. They also lead us to acknowledge the darkness in ourselves.

David Gowler explores the layers of meaning in Jesus' parables, which were "created and preserved in conversation with both Jewish and Greco-Roman cultural environments." Mikeal Parsons invites us to join the early Christians in reading them as allegories about God.

Barbara Reid, O. P., examines the violent endings in the parables unique to Matthew. Dorothy Jean Weaver considers Jesus' striking parables concerning wealth and possessions in the Gospel of Luke. And James Edwards asks why the Gospel of Mark, which frequently calls Jesus "the Teacher," so sparingly records his instruction. Mark is preparing us to hear Jesus' teaching, he suggests. "The spoken word is, of course, necessary, but as an interpretation of what Jesus does rather than as a substitute for it."

Clarence Jordan was an unusually able interpreter of Jesus' parables, Joel Snider observes. His academic study, small-town background, and experiences in establishing the interracial Koinonia Farm in the 1940s shaped Jordan's reading of the parables in "the Cotton Patch."

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to help us embrace the practical implications of Christ's teachings. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Parables issue and the set of six Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

  • "The Contexts of Jesus' Parables," by David B. Gowler
  • "Hearing a Parable with the Early Church," by Mikeal C. Parsons
  • "Matthew's Nonviolent Jesus and Violent Parables," by Barbara E. Reid, O. P.
  • "Hazmats or Good Gifts?" by Dorothy Jean Weaver
  • "Hearing Is Believing," by James R. Edwards
  • "Hearing Parables in the Patch," by Joel Snider

Art

  • "A Gesture of Reconciliation," by Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons, on Guercino's Return of the Prodigal Son
  • "Go and Do Likewise," by Heidi J. Hornik, on Jacopo Bassano's Good Samaritan and He Qi's The Good Samaritan

Hymn and Worship Service

  • "Christ's Parables," by Mark L. Moeller
  • Worship Service, by Mark L. Moeller

Inspirational Pieces

  • "Hands of the Father," by William D. Shiell
  • "Mark and the Biggest Parable of All," by Martha Sterne
  • Other Voices, Quotations on Parables

Book Reviews

  • "Interpreting the Parables' Recent Interpreters," by Scott Huelin
    • Craig L. Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables
    • Robert Farrar Capon, Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus
    • Barbara Green, Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor

Study Guides and Lesson Plans (Download the set of six Study Guides)

  • "The Contexts of Jesus' Parables"
  • "Hearing Parables with the Early Church"
  • "Hearing is Believing"
  • "Violent Parables and the Nonviolent Jesus"
  • "Wealth: Hazmat or Good Gift?"
  • "Hearing Parables in the Patch"
Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Parables
  • About
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    • Staff
  • Conferences and Symposiums
    Back
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      Back
      • 2023 Called Together in an Age of Discord
        Back
        • Call for Proposals
        • Travel Information
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
        Back
        • Call for Proposals
        • Conference Schedule
        • Key Information and Frequently Asked Questions
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
      • 2021 Living Accountably
        Back
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2019 The Character of the University
        Back
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2017 The Bible and the Reformation
        Back
        • Co-Sponsors
        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2016 Higher Learning
        Back
        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2014 Faith and Film
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      Back
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
    • Other Conferences and Events
      Back
      • IFL@25
        Back
        • Select Pictures from IFL@25
      • 2019 LFP National Conference
        Back
        • Presenters
      • Art & Soul
      • Pruit Memorial Symposium
        Back
        • 2001 Celebrating Augustine's Confessions
        • 2002 Christianity and Economics
        • 2003 The Schooled Heart
        • 2004 Slavery, Oppression, and Prejudice
        • 2005 Global Christianity
      • Baylor University Medical Ethics Seminar
        Back
        • 2016 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2017 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2018 Medical Ethics Seminar
      • One-Time Conferences
  • Programs
    Back
    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
    • William Carey Crane Scholars Program
      Back
      • Additional Information
    • Missio
    • Forming Character in the Classroom
      Back
      • About the Program: Called to Character
      • Past Workshops
    • Reading Groups and Guest Speakers
    • Soundings Project
  • Media and Resources
    Back
    • Faith Animating Online Education
      Back
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      Back
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
      • Freedom
      • Friendship
      • Gambling Culture
      • Generosity
      • Global Wealth
      • Health
      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
      • Prison
      • Prophetic Ethics
      • Racism
      • Sabbath
      • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
      • Scripture
      • Sermon on the Mount
      • Singing Our Lives
      • Sports
      • Suffering
      • Traveling Well
      • Virtual Lives
      • Vocation
      • Where Wisdom Is Found
      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
      • Work
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