Course Objectives

• Jesus was a storyteller. He understood humans, their social nature, and their learning processes. He was very culturally attuned in an overwhelmingly illiterate society. The parables uniquely entertain, inform, involve, motivate, engage, and mirror existence. Western lecture-based teaching–the transfer of “factual information” to another–cannot reach the depth, breadth, and possibilities that a well-crafted parable can. And parables deliver their punch concisely and infinitely more briefly! Parables are designed to be compellingly interesting. Good parables draw attention, disarm, and facilitate self-awareness and self-instruction. The significance of Jesus’s use of parables cannot be overstated. The need to correctly interpret and apply them also cannot be overstated.