Interpreting the Parables: God's Good News for the World

by Craig L. Blomberg

Book Overview

The classic works of C. H. Dodd and Joachim Jeremias set the direction for nearly all further parable studies in this century. Embodied in both scholar's approaches are at least two assumptions that, for the most part, have gone unchallenged: (1) Parables make one and only one main point. (2) They are not allegories. But can these assumptions be supported by the evidence? In this introductory text, Craig Blomberg surveys and evaluates contemporary...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830812717
• ISBN13: 9780830812714
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 333 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Standard Evangelical Work On The Parables

In 1899, the German scholar Adolf Julicher published his two volume work on the parables entitled DIE GLEICHNISREDEN JESU. In this work, which has never been translated into English, Julicher set the stage for subsequent interpretation of Jesus' parables. First, parables are not allegories. Second, a parable makes one and only one main point. Part of Julicher's rationale was to reject the allegorizing of the past, in which every character in a parable represented something else. Julicher was also a theological liberal who wanted to portray Jesus as a simple Jewish teacher whose message was in line with the teaching of his day. Noted evangelical New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg rightly takes aim at the two presuppositions of Julicher's method. While conceding that the wild allegorizing of the past must be rejected, Blomberg persuasively shows that parables often make more than one point. Indeed, Jesus himself portrayed his parables at times as allegories, for example the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. This book discusses all the parables of Jesus, reviews the history of interpretation, and surveys contemporary literary theory as it applies to the parables.

a useful tool, but overwelling at times.

Blomberg saw the need for contemporary scholarship to provide tools for pastors, scholars, and students to deal with parables. Interpreting the Parables was a thesis to challenge what he saw as misguided approaches to the interpretation of parables in the twentieth century. In chapter one, Blomberg provides a good overview of what to expect in the rest of the book. Blomberg states that the church has interpreted parables in many different ways throughout history, with the most common interpretation being allegorical - that the narrative is in the heavenly realm where the physical characteristics have spiritual meanings. Many modern scholars have rejected the allegorical approach in favor of the view that each parable only makes one point. Others do not interpret every aspect of parables as allegorical, but see allegorical elements in every parable. Yet another group uses form and reduction criticism to interpret parables, believing that the early church modified parables and that the text does not accurately record the words of Jesus. Some scholars believe that parables revolve around one main point of comparing a story's activity to Jesus' understanding of the kingdom. In contrast, Blomberg defines an allegory as a complex story told in a parable with numerous details to be decoded. This complex approach was popular among Christian scholars in the nineteenth century. Chrysostom, Aquinas, Calvin, and others had challenged this idea earlier, but even they used some allegory in their exegesis. The scholar Adolf Julicher, at the beginning of the twentieth century, attempted to demolish the allegorical interpretation of the parables. His main argument was that words such as "like" and "as" point to a straightforward comparison in the parables. Most commentators after Julicher would not agree with him on everything, but would hold to his view that each parable has a single proposition. The majority of recent scholarship has viewed the literary form of the parables as allegory. They do not believe the problem lies in an allegorical approach to interpreting parables, but rather in an overzealousness of some in the use of allegory. The reader may be overwhelmed by the information from the interpretive debate as presented in this book. It would have been helpful if Blomberg had presented the information in the form of an outline and summarized his data. According to Blomberg, there are two extremes in the study of the differences between the synoptic gospels. The first extreme is to ignore the differences and to combine all of the information from the synoptic gospels into one unified narrative. The other extreme is to claim that the gospel writers fabricated unhistorical material with no foundation from the life of Jesus. Blomberg believes the balanced approach is to realize that differences are due to distinct themes of individual writers. Another reason Blomberg offers for the differences is the significance of the larger context of each gospel. Blo

Useful look at Parables

The title of this book would suggest that the focus was a direct study of the parables. That is true for the last 155 of 327 pages (a little less than half.) The first half of the book discusses hermeneutics. Considering the implication of the title, I will begin with Blomberg's direct study of the parables of Christ. Dr. Blomberg discusses 40 parables directly in his discussion. Of these, he splits them into 4 categories: Simple 3-Point Parables, Complex 3-Point Parables, Two-Point Parables and One-Point Parables, with the last two being discussed together in one chapter. His view is different from most modern conservative theologians who teach the parable is a metaphorical story intended to teach one precept. He argues that even the most conservative scholars cannot avoid some amount of allegorizing of the parables, and study should include a very limited amount of allegory. His discussion of each parable is interesting, and not allegorical to the point of eisegesis. He does not adhere strictly to the rule that allegorical meaning must be implied in the text from other Scripture, but he does not go overboard in his figurative interpretations. Some of his categorical evidence for multiple-point parables is simply a restating of a previously mentioned precept. Each section describing the parable has an italicized section that summarizes his interpreted teaching points that are to be gleaned from the Scriptural passage. Over half of the book is a discussion of hermeneutics (study of the methods of interpreting Scripture.) His method is not liberal, but is less conservative than most modern evangelicals are. He begins with a discussion over the debate between two competing ways of interpreting parables in: Parable vs. Allegory and Parable as Allegory. He is somewhat convincing that parables are not allegorical at all, but does not make a delineation between metaphorically figurative statements and outright allegory, which are two distinct genres. If he had looked at metaphorically figurative language in this way, much of his writing trying to convince that allegories were not "evil," would have been moot. He then discusses Form criticism and redaction criticism and their relations to the parables. He writes very briefly about Gospel authorship theories, but only discusses one of three major theories found in modern conservative scholarship. He then discusses the "New Hermeneutic." He concludes at the end that each parable has a central teaching point for each main character, which is how he arrives at the different belief that parables have more than one point. Blomberg's discussion of the parables is a useful and detailed look at the parables. He does not delve into discussions of Greek or Aramaic, so knowledge of these biblical languages is not necessary. He does a superb job of pointing the reader to the important matter of his writing by putting conclusions in italics. While at first his book seems to flaunt previously h

Valuable study

I borrowed this book. It is thoughtful, makes the material interesting. Seems meant for undergraduate or even graduate level study. First half of study could be skipped if you are not into the theoretical. Go straight to the second half if you want to focus on the parable commentary. I am buying my own copy because this is a valuable study resource.

An intense, incisive and inspiring piece of work

This is a must read if you ever want to dig deep into the parables in scripture. Although it may have been written for students in theology, I find the reading to be challenging and fruitful as I get immersed in its intensive analyses and extensive citations from other bible scholars. I consider this one of several classic references in preparation for a Sunday School lecture series on "Parables for the People". After you digest this book slowly, you will be assured that teaching and understanding the parables can be a profound experience in pleasing God.