Short Stories by Jesus Participant Guide: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi - Softcover

Levine, Amy-Jill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1501858165 ISBN 13: 9781501858161

Publisher: Abingdon Press, 2018

Synopsis

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus' stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives.

In this Bible study based on her Short Stories by Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine analyzes these "problems with parables" taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

This participant guide provides an introduction to the main text as well as further Scripture commentary and reflection questions.

About this title

About the Author:

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences. An internationally renowned scholar and teacher, she is the author of numerous books including The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus and The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Bible and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us. She is also the co-editor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament. Professor Levine, who has done over 300 programs for churches, clergy groups, and seminaries, has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Institutions granting her honorary degrees include Christian Theological Seminary and the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1501858165
• ISBN 13: 9781501858161
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96