Tag: Parable of the Prodigal Son
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Household: Theological Implications of the Parable of the Compassionate Father (Part 3)
Yesterday I asked, in what sense does Bailey see the story of the Compassionate Father in Luke 15 as a retelling of the story of Israel? It is easy to forget that the creator of a great story has the freedom to choose where to begin. Jesus sees himself as the divine presence in the…
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Household: Theological Implications of the Parable of the Compassionate Father (Part 2)
Jesus' three-in-one parable in Luke 15 is more than just a masterful remix of the shepherd imagery. It is a reframing of the story of Israel. In the next post, we will look at what Kenneth Bailey says about this. First, a brief excursus into N. T. Wright's analysis of this passage in Jesus and…
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Household: Theological Implications of the Parable of the Compassionate Father (Part 1)
Kenneth Bailey lists eleven major theological implications of "The Parable of the Compassionate Father" (Luke 15:11-32) in Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15. (190-192) Sin. The parable exhibits two types of sin. One is the sin of the law-breaker and the other sin of the law-keeper. Each centers on a broken relationship. One…
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Household: The Older Son, Luke 15:25-32
Jesus concludes the first eight stanzas of the parable with a celebration getting underway. The father is celebrating his successful work in "finding" his son. In the ninth stanza, Jesus shifts the focus to the older son. As you will recall, the older son was silent when the younger son did the unthinkable, asking his…
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Household: The Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-24 (Part 2)
At the end of the last post, we left the parable at the point the prodigal son has "returned (or come) to himself," but not to his father. He has come to his senses about his situation and is now plotting how he might return to his father's house. 18 I will get up and…
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Household: The Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-24 (Part 1)
Kenneth Bailey points out that when he began (in the 1950s) to study the story we traditionally call the Parable of the Prodigal Son, he came across records of debates between medieval Christian and Muslim scholars about the nature of this story. The Muslims argued that the story is about a young man who gets…
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Theological Implications of “The Parable of the Compassionate Father” according to Kenneth Bailey
[Previous] Kenneth E. Bailey lists eleven major theological implications of "The Parable of the Compassionate Father" (Luke 15:11-32) in Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15. (190-192) Sin. The parable exhibits two types of sin. One is the sin of the law-breaker and the other sin of the law-keeper. Each centers on a broken…
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Reflections on the Parable of the Compassionate Father
[Previous] My presentation of Kenneth E. Bailey's work on Luke 15:11-32 is woefully lacking. Still, I hope these recent posts have helped us see how rich the story is when viewed through Middle Eastern eyes. Having closely examined this parable, we now ask what to do with the parable. The temptation is to "gut" the…
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The Older Son (Part 2)
[Previous] Here is the inverted parallelism for the second half of the parable: A. He Stands Aloof – 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves [young boy] and asked what was going on.…
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The Older Son (Part 1)
[Previous] Jesus concludes the first eight stanzas of the parable with the celebration getting underway. In the ninth stanza, Jesus shifts the focus to the older son. As you will recall, the older son was silent when the younger son did the unthinkable by asking for a division of his father's estate. The expected role…