The Dark Interval: Towards a Theology of Story [Paperback]

John Dominic Crossan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

From myth to parable, Crossan identifies five types of stories. Among these types it is parable that subverts the world and undercuts the safe shelter we build. Using literary theory, philosophy, theology and biblical studies, he demonstrates the subversive power of the parable.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An intriguing book... It will challenge readers in many fields—and all the more because it is so readable. -- Walter J. Ong, St. Louis University

About the Author

John Dominic Crossan is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, DePaul University in Chicago, and Co-chair of the Jesus Seminar, 1989–1996.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Polebridge Press (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944344062
• ISBN-13: 978-0944344064
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John D. Crossan is generally acknowledged to be the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. His books include The Historical Jesus, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, and Who Killed Jesus? He recently appeared in the PBS special "From Jesus to Christ."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to narrative theology, April 13, 2000

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dark Interval: Towards a Theology of Story (Paperback)

The Dark Interval: Towards a Theology of Story is one of the best introductions to narrative theology in print. Yes, this is the same Crossan associated with the search for the historical Jesus - but avoiding that strain of contemporary theology is no excuse to miss this gem.

Crossan is widely educated and very comfortably draws from a number of literary, philosophical and theological sources. His argument on the relationship between limit, game, and narrative is especially thought provoking. His analysis of parables as cross-expectations is one of the more interesting and thought-provoking studies of parables.

The net result of his line of thought is that the reader gains a pratical rather than strictly theorectical understanding of narrative theology ... and comes to see it as a natural tool of interpretation of life - one's own or Christ's/

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Accessible, but Too Brief, October 11, 2008

By 

Brent Sleeper (San Francisco, Calif.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Interval: Towards a Theology of Story (Paperback)

I had read this book when I was in college and Crossan's model of story had struck me as very insightful. Re-reading it now, I find it less illuminating. In part, it's because some of Crossan's ideas strike me as conventional wisdom (at least among the group of people who think about epistemology -- and, in fact it may be, as the book's first edition is now more than thirty years old).

My larger criticism, though, is that while quite accessible, this brief book feels more like an extended gloss on a thesis than a fully-developed work. The author spends too much time establishing his premise of parable as one type of story, but too little examining the implications of the model. I would have preferred a significantly deeper discussion of the stories Jesus told and why they should be seen as subversive, particularly in the historical context of his time. (A point of illustration: he recast the story of the Good Samaritan in terms of the Vietnam War. In my head, I substituted Iraq and al-Qaeda for similarly jarring effect.) Indeed, the most powerful chapter of the book is the brief epilogue that discusses the ways in which Jesus' parables were defanged, or at least recast as apologues, to fit the early church's eschatology of the cross.