Jesus the Storyteller: Why Did Jesus Teach In Parables? - Softcover

'If you are thinking, What, another book on the parables? then think again! Here is a single volume that judiciously surveys parables research, sketches the significance of Jesus' parables for each of the Synoptic Gospels, analyses the importance of the parables for understanding Jesus' ministry, and discusses how these parables would have been heard in their own contexts all of this in readable prose that is fully conversant with scholarly discussion without bogging us down in that discussion.' --Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary

'In this scholarly yet highly readable book, Stephen Wright offers a strikingly fresh approach to the stories Jesus told and their place in his historical ministry. Bringing to prominence an aspect of Jesus' modus operandi that has received scant attention in historical Jesus scholarship, Wright shows how a proper appreciation of Jesus' storytelling enriches our understanding of his person and work.' --Edward Adams, Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies, King's College, London

'Stephen Wright has written an intriguing study of parables with a Janus-like quality, gathering and gleaning from the rich history of scholarship while broadening the range of conversation and suggesting what new directions this lively tradition might take. His range of materials is remarkable and yet integrated into a vision of Jesus as a storyteller. This study should be on the shelf of any serious student of the parables.' --William R. Herzog II, formerly Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, New York

The book offers a fresh, historically plausible account of why Jesus spoke in parables and how this distinctive style of speech functioned in his ministry. Most books on the parables have tended to treat them as individual units to be interpreted rather than in a connected way as a consistent element within the ministry of the historical Jesus. Our understanding of the parables is a crucial element in our understanding of Jesus, and this book seeks to elucidate those connections in a way that takes account of some of the main advances in Jesus scholarship and parable scholarship over recent decades. The book is academically serious but written in an accessible way, and provides a solid basis for any who wish to draw on the model of Jesus in communicating Christian faith today.