This book explores what it means to seek the ""voice"" of Jesus"" in his
parables through the interpretive keys of literary tropes. Through a
detailed discussion of significant periods of parable interpretation,
with reference to six narrative parables peculiar to Luke's Gospel, it
demonstrates the continued necessity of a creative response to an
intention when confronted with figures of speech. Drawing on the long
tradition of interpretation, a fresh hearing of the tone of the parables
as exemplary tales is suggested, rooted in both the conditions of
Jesus's contemporary culture and the Old Testament Scriptures. ""At a
time when there is renewed interest in the study of parables, both
biblical and in other literature, Dr. Wright's book is at the cutting
edge of scholarship. He is equally at home in the Classics of the
Christian tradition, in contemporary biblical studies and literary
theory as well as the study of rhetoric. His recovery of the 'voice' of
the great parables of Luke's Gospel is a masterpiece of
interdisciplinarity and should be widely read by both students and
scholars."" --David Jasper, University of Glasgow ""So many books have
been written on the parables of Jesus that it is now a real challenge to
write anything that is significantly original about them. This, however,
is what Dr. Wright has succeeded in doing in this sensitive treatment.
He brings his particular skills in literary criticism to the task, and
the result is a book which genuinely has something fresh to offer to the
interpretation of his chosen group of parables."" --I. Howard Marshall,
University of Aberdeen Stephen Wright is Director of the College of
Preachers, an ecumenical training agency based in London.
