In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus

by John Dominic Crossan

With In Parables, John Dominic Crossan boldly attempts to understand the parables from inside their own world. Combining critical, theological, and literary approaches, he sets the reading and study of the parables in an entirely new context.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Biblical Studies, Christianity

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

John Dominic Crossan is generally regarded as the leading historical Jesus scholar in the world. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Historical Jesus, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, The Birth of Christianity, and Who Killed Jesus? He lives in Clermont, Florida.

John Dominic Crossan was born in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland in 1934. He was educated in Ireland and the United States, received a Doctorate of Divinity from Maynooth College in Ireland in 1959, and did post-doctoral research at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome from 1959 to 1961 and at the École Biblique in Jerusalem from 1965 to 1967. He was a member of a thirteenth-century Roman Catholic religious order, the Servites (Ordo Servorum Mariae), from 1950 to 1969 and was an ordained priest in 1957. He joined DePaul University in Chicago in 1969 and remained there until 1995. He is now a Professor Emeritus in its Department of Religious Studies.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important book in the interpretation of Jesus' parables. I read it for class and enjoyed its unique voice. I think Snodgrass's treatment is definitive for me, but Crossan should be read--it's a classic.

[Therese Fisher]

I don't know why goodreads says I read this book. I didn't. I considered buying it, but decided that any book where the font size of the author's name dwarfs the font size of the name Jesus in the title, doesn't make the cut for my reading list.

[James Klagge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This paperback was published in 1992, but it is unchanged from the original 1973 HB edition. Crossan was central in the Jesus Seminar, exploring the historical Jesus, but this was written well before that. Still, it takes that approach, trying to determine what may have come from Jesus, what came from early sources such as Q and Mark, and what was added by the gospel writers. But you probably get a better worked-out form of all this from The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus, which is a very valuable resource.
Crossan says his approach is influence by Heidegger, and he quotes from him occasionally, but I didn't see that this supposed approach added (or subtracted) anything. It seemed more like a "methodology" chapter added to a dissertation. Crossan does quote poets and literary critics of poetry extensively, and this helps create the sense that parables are a kind of poetry.
So, I would say that this book under review is OK, but mostly has been superseded by later work. Still, it is short and succinct.

[Mandimby Ranaivoarisoa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crossan strives to hear the Historical Jesus speaking through Parables, does he succeed? At best he can approximate Jesus’ very words, and talk only in terms of probability. At worse, there is no way for him to recover the 'Historical Jesus', beyond what the evangelists have handed down to us. That being said, one has to acknowledge Crossan’s skillful analysis of the text of the parables, as well as the much insightful conclusions that he draws from historical and literary background. He never misses any connection whenever connection there is.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

UGH. No. Just no.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof. This is tedious. Made more so by Crossan's dependence on source criticism. I gave it a bonus star for being mercifully short.

[Carl Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book consists of four essays, an academic though sometimes dry discussion of the parables. Through translation, structural breakdown and deductive reasoning, Crossan winnows out the factors that might connect them more closely with Jesus' teaching that the Gospel authors. It becomes significantly more interesting for me in post-reading reflection. For example in the parable of the Lost Sheep, Crossan's research suggests (38-39) that the original parable ended with a sense of joy at finding the lost sheep. Later John ends the story with Jesus announcing "I am the good shepherd," creating a subtle difference in the story and a huge difference in the parable's intent.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource on the parables