The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible: Parables of Jesus: 11

by Michael E. Williams

Jesus was a master storyteller, and his chosen form of story was the parable. Like rabbis of his day and since, if you asked him a question, what you were likely to get in response was a story. As a storyteller, he must have been a charismatic speaker, weaving images that gave people new insights into pressing concerns of their day. After Jesus' death, his followers preserved many of his stories and passed them down. But when they did so, they saw new meanings in them. Jesus, they felt, spoke not only to people and concerns of his own day but also to new generations and situations. The parables of Jesus were not seen as historical artifacts but as lively words of wisdom appropriate for any generation. Today we still learn from the parables of Jesus. They still speak with a freshness and power that give us new insights into pressing concerns of our own day. This volume delves into the parables of the master storyteller and learn ways in which we can retell those sto

175 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[SusanwithaGoodBook]

I bought these Storyteller's Companion books hoping they would help me write stories for my Bible Class Curriculum, but that's not really what I found here. Yes, there are storytelling ideas, but they weren't really what I was looking for and weren't really useful to me. However, I did find that the "Comments on the Story" sections were useful, particularly for historical information and insight into the meanings of terms and things. I marked several places to go back and take notes to possibly add to my stories or activity ideas, so that was very helpful.

There is one HUGE problem with these books and a caveat with my possible recommendation - the authors of these books do not view the gospels as fully authentic, nor do they see them as inspired writings. There were several points at which that POV was glaringly obvious and in some places outright stated. This was particularly bad for the volume on the gospel of John, where I was appalled at some of the ideas presented.

In short, I can't really recommend these, though I did find some nuggets of good info, the overall pov can't be trusted, imho.