Customer Reviews

The Parables of the Kingdom

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R.F. Capon's work on the parables of the kingdom is refreshing and thought provoking. He evaluates the parables basically in light of three critera. In order not to "give away" some of the neat things in his work, I would like to focus on his critera of catholicity. Any Capon reader knows that the idea of catholicity (i.e. everyone, everywhere, every time) runs through all of his works. However, in some of his other works one does not find the Scriptural backing that, I, for one, need. Not so in this work. In looking at the parables, Capon provides the Scriptural backing for his view of catholicity and ultimately a refreshing view of the Gospel as it really is: good news. Christ Himself told his followers to "Repent and believe in the gospel." Thus, by evaluating the Bible in context of history (Capon is a through and through phenomenologist) and in light of Christ's words (instead of leaning heavily on Pauline theology), Capon recovers the astonishment the early hearers must have had at Jesus' words. On a less positive note, Capon's style is not for everyone. He is not a "feel-good" writer nor is he laborious as some scholars. He steps on many toes and often goes on tangents regarding contoversial issues. However, rather than detracting from the work, I personally feel that the tangents add to one's understanding, but I also realize that this may not be true of everyone.

Capon will be snubbed by the head in the sand fundamentalists who think they are the only right ones...but Capon would be the first one to say, God loves them too. Excellent commentary in a non-commentary style as he says about the treasure of the Kingdom Jesus posits in parables, "as children turned loose in the treasure room of the castle--we've got more than enough to keep us fascinated forever." Capon's insights are astounding and will shake up 'modern plastic Christianity's' conventional ideas. I think Capon grasps Jesus' teaching/preaching method of inductive preaching/teaching better than anyone else. His other books are fantastic too. A worthy read, first of three about the parables. Read all three then buy 'The Mystery of Christ.' Capon is an Episcopal priest and a chef and he sure puts together some fine dishes!

Robert Capon likes to play around with Scripture. In the epilogue of this book, he even advocates playing with Scripture. That style of hermeneutics can open up some new vistas of spiritual insight, but it can also be somewhat dangerous. Capon sees these parables as presenting the Kingdom of God as sort of a subversive presence throughout the whole world, demonstrating what he calls "left-handed" power. He skirts dangerously close to the precipice of universalism, stopping just short of saying that everyone in the world will be saved. He does stop short, to be sure, but rather reluctantly. It's interesting how he believes that when Jesus was asked to explain a couple of his parables, he gave less than satisfactory interpretations, which Capon said he did on purpose. Now, we sure wouldn't want to be tied down by Jesus' explanation, would we?

The tone of this book is playful and almost jocular. It makes for some entertaining reading. Capon, in some areas, would be considered a conservative (he does accept the supernatural) but he has a rather liberal view of grace. Although I'm not totally comfortable with that, I still recommend this book as a very creative way of getting one to think "outside the box" when it comes to these particular parables. I'm sure I will be reading more of Capon in the future.

Capon is, in a word, unorthodox. As a religious writer, he lands somewhere between the religion department and the pulpit. he takes a lot of freedom in attempting to determine what Jesus really was talking about and why, and i keep expecting him to slip into the academish/nonsense talk of religion professors (in my experience) and yet he always works his way out of that.

his perpective is fresh, well thought-out, and deeply rooted in the original language of the biblical text, as well, as much scholarship. i have no doubt that he knows the bible well.

Capon starts to write about the "left-handedness" of God's use of power -- backdoorish, subtle and tricky, doing things like dying to show his power, instead of direct authoritative, thunderboltish use. and i would like to read and know more about this, but he gets away from it, in order to talk about the first set of parables - parables of the kingdom.

his thesis about the nature of the kingdom revolves around its catholicity, mystery, actuality, and hostility. i follow this far, and some of his arguements to back up this thesis are good.

at times, though, i stare in disbelief at his tinkerings. like when he takes the treasure hidden in the field, adds a barn or two to the field, calls it a farm, then says that "buying the farm" is an adage for death, so the parable really is about death. yikes!

all in all, more good than bad here. he is refreshing, challenging, and i've come to recognize that when an author makes me uncomfortable, that's a good thing. this book is not as profound as I want it to be, but has offered some nice twists on old interpretations of the parables.

a passage:

"Oh dear. I hear two objections. Let me interrupt myself to deal with them. The first is: "But hold on. Doesn't Scripture say that there will be some (or even many) who will reject the reconciliation?" Of course it does. But the very hell of hell lies precisely in the fact that its inhabitants will be insisting on a perpetual rejection of an equally perpetual gift. It will be an eternal struggle to escape from the grip of a love that will never let them go. And for that everlasting stand-off, I think, there is not a word in Scripture that is too strong: not the "fire that is not quenched," not the "worm that dieth not," not the "outer darkness," not the "bottomless pit." not the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" -- and certainly not the utterly fruitless "second death".

if you'd like to discuss this book with me, or anything else really, e-mail me at williekrischke@hotmail.com.

Capon's Parables of the Kingdom is bound to bring about fruitful re-examination of the parables captured in Matthew 13. However, Capon seems to confuse the intent of the Gospel writer in placing these parables together with the intent of Jesus, who, in all likelihood, did not order them in this way. Moreover, Capon, who is a Greek scholar, often focuses on the importance and possible interpretations of Greek words used in the Gospel; as Jesus may not have used these particular Greek words (Matthew was probably written some 40 years after Jesus' death)or may even have told them in Aramaic, this emphasis can be misleading.