Howard Thurman and the Quest for Community: From Prodigals to Good Samaritans (PART II: Chapters 3 & 4)

My forthcoming book has a new title. It is no longer What do Parables Want? It is Howard Thurman and the Quest for Community: From Prodigals to Good Samaritans. 

Here is a continuation of the series of posts of the outline of the book. I started with the later chapters and am working backwards in these posts.

Part II: How Do Parables Work? What Do Parables Want?: The Parable of the Rich Fool as a Test Case for Jesus and the Disinherited 

Chapter 3: How Do Parables Work? 

Introduction: Rembrandt, The Money Changer (Der Geldwechsler) 

Jesus’ Parables in Context 

Jewish Contexts 

Greco-Roman Contexts 

Interpreting Parables and Fables 

Parables as Teaching Tools that create Pictures in the Mind 

Fables/Parables can have Multiple Morals, Meanings, and Applications 

Multiple Meanings and the “Enthymematic” Nature of Parables/Fables/Meshalim 

Filling in the Gaps in Rembrandt’s The Moneychanger/Rich Fool 

Conclusion 

Chapter 4: What do Parables want?: The Rich Fool Parable as a Test Case 

Introduction 

The Narrative Context of Luke 12:16–20 

The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16–20) 

The Intertexture of Luke 12:16–20 

Social and Cultural Texture: Texts and Contexts in Dialogue 

Conclusion: From the Rich Fool Parable to considering Howard Thurman’s Contributions to understanding the Prodigal Son and Good Samaritan Parables