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Jesus and the Language of the Kingdom: Symbol and Metaphor in New Testament Interpretation
An excellent discussion of the Kingdom of God, the parables of Jesus, and New Testament hermeneutics. Perrin develops the interrelatedness of these theses, discussing their treatment by the leading New Testament critics, namely, A. Julicher, J. Weiss, C. H. Dodd, J. Jeremias, R. Bultmann, W. Rauschenbusch, and E. Fuchs. He then moves to more recent treatment by Wilder, Via, Crossan, Funk, et. al., as well as his own, analyzing the various interpretations objectively, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each.... An essential book..." - Choice
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225 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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May 29, 2024
A STUDY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS PRESENTED IN JESUS’ PARABLES
Norman Perrin (1920-1976) was an English-born, New Testament scholar at the University of Chicago; he was also president of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1973. c.
He wrote in the Preface of this 1976 book, “This volume began as an attempt to revise … a number of essays that I have published over the years on the Kingdom of God, on the parables of Jesus, and on the problems of New Testament hermeneutics. As I began to revise them, however, it became evident that my own thinking on the various topics had developed rapidly… So it seemed better to rewrite than to revise… A problem … in the writing of the manuscript was the fact that the interpretation of the Kingdom of God in the message of Jesus and the interpretation of the parables are different but closely related topics. So the scholar who writes about the Kingdom of God in the message of Jesus must necessarily write about the parables, and vice versa.” (Pg. xi)
He explains in the Introduction, “In ‘The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus,’ I was concerned with a historical understanding of Jesus’ use of ‘Kingdom of God,’ and in ‘Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus’ I used the parables of Jesus are of interest to students of the New Testament at levels other than that of life of Jesus research. The former is a major biblical symbol, and the latter are a most distinctive literary form; they both offer particular challenges at the level of interpretation, or… they present fascinating problems at the level or hermeneutics. It is at this level that I am concerned with them in thus current study.” (Pg. 1)
After quoting a number of biblical passages from ancient Jewish literature about the ‘Kingdom of God,’ he comments, “In these early uses of the symbol we have a consistent myth… of a God who created the world on behalf of his people, with the emphasis upon the continuing activity of God. The symbol functions by evoking the myth, and in turn the myth is effective because it interprets the historical experience of the Jewish people in the world… It is obvious that … I have begun to use the word ‘myth’ in a particular way… I like Alan Watts’ statement… ‘A complex of stories---some no doubt fact, and some fantasy,’ that statement describes exactly the ancient Israelite people’s understanding of their deliverance from Egypt… the ancient Israelite people believed that their myth of the kingly activity of God demonstrated ‘the inner meaning of the universe’ and gave them a true understanding of the nature of human life in the world… The symbol is dependent upon the myth, and it is effective because of its power to evoke the myth. The myth in turn derives its power from its ability to make sense of the life of the Jewish people in the world.” (Pg. 22-23)
He outlines, “As we approach the message of Jesus… there are three things to bear in mind. In the first place, ‘Kingdom of God’ is a symbol with deep roots in the Jewish consciousness of themselves as the people of God. Then, secondly, it functions within the context of the myth of God active in history on behalf of his people…” (Pg. 32)
He summarizes, “The purpose of this present study is to offer what I hope will probe to be a new perspective on the discussion by approaching Kingdom of God as a SYMBOL, and by approaching the message of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God in terms of Jesus’ use of the symbol… Kingdom of God is a symbol with deep roots in the Jews’ consciousness of themselves as the people of God. It functions within the context of the myth of God active in history on behalf of his people; indeed by the time of Jesus it had come to represent particularly the expectation of a final eschatological act of God on behalf of his people.” (Pg. 40)
He cites Robert Funk’s interpretation of the Good Samaritan parable, and observes, “The impact of the story is to make the auditor, as a Jew, come to understand ‘what it means to be the victim in the ditch,’ and as the auditor does this, ‘he/she also understands what the Kingdom is all about.’ I find myself extremely sympathetic to this ‘reading’ of The Good Samaritan, because it puts the emphasis upon the function of the parable as a story, and because it does justice to the distinctive features of the story… the fact that the story as metaphor of the Kingdom challenges the auditor to make a transference of judgment from the story as vehicle to the Kingdom as tenor of that metaphor, and the fact that it does this last thing more effectively because it lays down no guidelines for it but leaves the auditor on his own confronted by that ‘clash of worlds’ which itself is… the coming of the Kingdom as parable.” (Pg. 177-178)
This book will interest those studying the words of Jesus from a “progressive” viewpoint.
Norman Perrin (1920-1976) was an English-born, New Testament scholar at the University of Chicago; he was also president of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1973. c.
He wrote in the Preface of this 1976 book, “This volume began as an attempt to revise … a number of essays that I have published over the years on the Kingdom of God, on the parables of Jesus, and on the problems of New Testament hermeneutics. As I began to revise them, however, it became evident that my own thinking on the various topics had developed rapidly… So it seemed better to rewrite than to revise… A problem … in the writing of the manuscript was the fact that the interpretation of the Kingdom of God in the message of Jesus and the interpretation of the parables are different but closely related topics. So the scholar who writes about the Kingdom of God in the message of Jesus must necessarily write about the parables, and vice versa.” (Pg. xi)
He explains in the Introduction, “In ‘The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus,’ I was concerned with a historical understanding of Jesus’ use of ‘Kingdom of God,’ and in ‘Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus’ I used the parables of Jesus are of interest to students of the New Testament at levels other than that of life of Jesus research. The former is a major biblical symbol, and the latter are a most distinctive literary form; they both offer particular challenges at the level of interpretation, or… they present fascinating problems at the level or hermeneutics. It is at this level that I am concerned with them in thus current study.” (Pg. 1)
After quoting a number of biblical passages from ancient Jewish literature about the ‘Kingdom of God,’ he comments, “In these early uses of the symbol we have a consistent myth… of a God who created the world on behalf of his people, with the emphasis upon the continuing activity of God. The symbol functions by evoking the myth, and in turn the myth is effective because it interprets the historical experience of the Jewish people in the world… It is obvious that … I have begun to use the word ‘myth’ in a particular way… I like Alan Watts’ statement… ‘A complex of stories---some no doubt fact, and some fantasy,’ that statement describes exactly the ancient Israelite people’s understanding of their deliverance from Egypt… the ancient Israelite people believed that their myth of the kingly activity of God demonstrated ‘the inner meaning of the universe’ and gave them a true understanding of the nature of human life in the world… The symbol is dependent upon the myth, and it is effective because of its power to evoke the myth. The myth in turn derives its power from its ability to make sense of the life of the Jewish people in the world.” (Pg. 22-23)
He outlines, “As we approach the message of Jesus… there are three things to bear in mind. In the first place, ‘Kingdom of God’ is a symbol with deep roots in the Jewish consciousness of themselves as the people of God. Then, secondly, it functions within the context of the myth of God active in history on behalf of his people…” (Pg. 32)
He summarizes, “The purpose of this present study is to offer what I hope will probe to be a new perspective on the discussion by approaching Kingdom of God as a SYMBOL, and by approaching the message of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God in terms of Jesus’ use of the symbol… Kingdom of God is a symbol with deep roots in the Jews’ consciousness of themselves as the people of God. It functions within the context of the myth of God active in history on behalf of his people; indeed by the time of Jesus it had come to represent particularly the expectation of a final eschatological act of God on behalf of his people.” (Pg. 40)
He cites Robert Funk’s interpretation of the Good Samaritan parable, and observes, “The impact of the story is to make the auditor, as a Jew, come to understand ‘what it means to be the victim in the ditch,’ and as the auditor does this, ‘he/she also understands what the Kingdom is all about.’ I find myself extremely sympathetic to this ‘reading’ of The Good Samaritan, because it puts the emphasis upon the function of the parable as a story, and because it does justice to the distinctive features of the story… the fact that the story as metaphor of the Kingdom challenges the auditor to make a transference of judgment from the story as vehicle to the Kingdom as tenor of that metaphor, and the fact that it does this last thing more effectively because it lays down no guidelines for it but leaves the auditor on his own confronted by that ‘clash of worlds’ which itself is… the coming of the Kingdom as parable.” (Pg. 177-178)
This book will interest those studying the words of Jesus from a “progressive” viewpoint.
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December 3, 2019An expired theory suggesting that the Kingdom of God in the Gospels is not a conception but a symbol, which is capable of evoking the ancient myth of God's kingly reign in the universe and God's promise of delivering the Israel in the end of the age. How can a symbol become the main theme of the Gospel stories?
The survey of the modern approaches to interpreting the parables in chapter three is useful but also expired.
The survey of the modern approaches to interpreting the parables in chapter three is useful but also expired.
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