World of the Parables

Alan Culpepper is Dean Emeritus and Professor of New Testament Emeritus at the McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Previously, he was Professor of Religion at Baylor University. He has published numerous articles and books, including Matthew in the New Testament Library and The People of the Parables: Galilee in the Time of Jesus, also published by Westminster John Knox Press.

"One of the biggest temptations for a lover of Jesus's parables is to make them all about us—postmodern human beings living in a world so different from his that it’s easy to make him more like us instead of the other way around. Alan Culpepper’s new book offers a way around this problem. By walking us through the most relevant realities of Jesus’s day, Culpepper opens familiar texts to fresh readings, reminding us that good scholarship isn't just a hedge against misinterpretation; it's also a door to new revelation."—Barbara Brown Taylor, author of Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far from Home "The World of the Parables provides an indispensable guide to any who seek to read, understand, or preach Jesus’s parables. Culpepper brings a lifetime of biblical scholarship to the task of opening up the first-century world of those who first listened to Jesus’s parables. The result for twenty-first-century readers is a much deeper appreciation of the meaning and significance of the simultaneously simple and earthshaking stories Jesus told to help his hearers—then and now!—understand more deeply how God intends the world to function. This book, as accessible as it is succinct, deserves the time and attention of anyone who desires to have, as Jesus invites, 'ears to hear' his transformative parables."—David J. Lose, Senior Pastor, Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis "With The World of the Parables, Culpepper has made even more accessible the findings of his excellent precursor volume, The People of the Parables. Culpepper has continued to showcase the social, economic, and religious contexts in which Jesus’s parables were first heard. This abridged version has added questions for reflection and discussion and a glossary of terms to enhance the usability of the book, especially in church or lay groups. The subtitle of this book says it all: Through this volume, modern audiences will be meeting the people who first heard Jesus in all their cultural diversity, economic challenges, and religious complexities. This book is a gift for which we should all be grateful."—Mikeal C. Parsons, University Distinguished Professor and Macon Chair in Religion, Baylor University "Transforming biblical scholarship into an excellent resource for laity, Culpepper paints a vivid picture of life for ordinary folks of Jesus's time. Readers are invited into cultural insights that would have been ‘common knowledge’ for those who first heard Jesus's parables but might not be such readily accessible knowledge for modern readers. Culpepper has created an excellent resource for the church to help readers understand Jesus's stories from the context in which they were first told."—Kara Eidson, Pastor, McLouth United Methodist Church, McLouth, Kansas; Pastor, Oskaloosa United Methodist Church, Oskaloosa, Kansas; and author of The Advent Tree: Meeting Jesus in God’s Big Story "The World of the Parables helps readers imagine the daily lives of people in the time of Jesus. In doing so, readers gain new appreciation of the meaning of Jesus’s parables, which so often foreground elements of everyday experience. This is an excellent resource for Bible study groups or sermon preparation."—Susan E. Hylen, C. H. Candler Professor of New Testament, Candler School of Theology, Emory University "In The World of the Parables, Culpepper invites the reader to experience the parables as did those who lived in the days of Jesus and in the culture of the time. Expositors and teachers often share a message on the parables from a viewpoint that prompts the listener to ask, But what was daily life really like? Culpepper, in this brilliant and intriguing book, invites the reader to experience truth by walking in the marketplace, fishing by the river, sitting at a table in a friendly conversation, or chatting with a fellow worker. He brings practical scholarship and recent discoveries to comfortable conversation about the context of the parables. Instead of hearing about what happened, the reader becomes a part of the parable in the real life of the day. This book adds insight, depth, and reality to the study of Jesus's words."—James C. Elder Jr., Pastor, First Baptist Church of Columbus, Georgia