Funk on Parables: Collected Essays [Paperback]

Robert W. Funk (Author), Bernard Brandon Scott (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2007

Robert Funk was the major seminal influence on parable scholarship in the second part of the twentieth century. His work on parable as metaphor led to the understanding of Jesus' parables as world-shattering. But it went beyond the question of metaphor: Funk redefined the form of the parable, made a substantial contribution to the argument that Jesus' parables originated in Greek, worked out a scale for evaluating parables as compositions, and proposed a model for how parables gave birth to resurrection faith. The essays in this volume, brought together for the first time, afford the reader a synoptic view of Funk's contribution a contribution with which scholarship is only now beginning to deal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Contemporary study of the historical Jesus began with research on his parables. Contemporary research on those parables began with Robert Funk. Funk on Parables is not just about where we have been but a challenge for where we still must go. --John Dominic Crossan

With the excellent introduction, complete indices and a select bibliography, this volume offers the best point of entry into the work of one of the late twentieth-century's most influential thinkers on the parables. The volume is highly recommended for entry level courses on the parables and for libraries that do not have a complete collection of the volumes from which these essays are drawn. --Religious Studies Review

About the Author

Robert W. Funk was a distinguished teacher, writer, translator and publisher in the field of religion. A Guggenheim Fellow and Senior Fulbright Scholar, he served as Annual Professor of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem and as chair of the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University. Robert Funk was a recognized pioneer in modern biblical scholarship, having led the Society of Biblical Literature as its Executive Secretary from 1968 to 1973.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Polebridge Press (January 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944344992
• ISBN-13: 978-0944344996
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for the parable student., September 26, 2007

By 

William M. Short "Mike Short" (Pleasant Hill, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Funk on Parables: Collected Essays (Paperback)

I should first mention that Brandon Scott, the editor of this book, is a friend and Bob Funk was a friend before his death in 2005. Even without the friendship factors I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in biblical studies in general and the parables of Jesus in particular.

Parable scholarship has changed over the last 40 years and a great deal of that change can be found in Funk's insights shown in this work. For people who are exploring modern biblical scholarship, a good beginning would be the seminal essays found here. Bob Funk changed the way many scholars approach the parables and because of that, he changed the way many of us interpret the Christian Bible. In this book we can see the evolution of parable interpretive techniques that break with the traditional allegorical and example story explanations, explore metaphorical interpretation and eventually result in a voice print of a sage who is proposing a different way to look at life in the first century.

Several years ago, I read Funk's essay, The Old Testament in Parable: The Good Samaritan, probably in his book, Language, Hermeneutic, and The Word of God, 1966. It is included in this collection. After reading that essay, I realized my seminary experience, for some reason, had left Funk's perspectives out of my biblical interpretive training. Studying Funk's work changed my frame of reference on biblical interpretation and thereby changed my preaching and teaching styles.

Brandon Scott, an internationally respected parable scholar himself, has collected and organized the essays in a very useful way. It is possible to visualize the evolutionary changes that have taken place in parable interpretation over the last several decades from this collection.

This selection of essays provides an excellent textbook for anyone who is teaching a class on the parables. It is, of course, suitable as a resource for personal biblical study, especially for a person who wants to experience the parables in imaginative and thoughtful ways, perhaps even, from the perspective of a first century peasant hearing the parables for the first time. It would be a fine addition to any pastor's library. The essays that discuss the parable of the Good Samaritan are worth the price of the book.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, July 30, 2007

By 

Robert A. Scala - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Funk on Parables: Collected Essays (Paperback)

Funk brings a learned approach to stories which we've known well. His insights are an aid to learning and to reflection and meditation.