A key to the parables

The purpose of these pages is to show how we may replace the parables in their first setting, the ministry of Jesus. Part I will be concerned largely with the reasons that led the first Christians to reinterpret and adapt the parables and with an examination of their techniques and methods. If we can discern the motives that moved them we may ultimately understand the original thrust of a parable. Part II, a study of the parables of the third Gospel, will illustrate the tendency and will demonstrate the positive advantages of this approach.