Update on the book: Estimated publication date, etc!

John Everett Millais, "The Hidden Treasure"

As I noted in a blog post last week, I turned in the book manuscript and am now working on obtaining copyright/permissions for the images and texts that I use in the book that are beyond "fair use" or not in the public domain. I am waiting to hear back from a number of institutions, but I already have more than half of the images I want/need.

In the meantime, I have received additional information about the book. The title is till tentative, so I won't say anything about that, but here are some other estimates about the book's publication:

The volume is scheduled to appear in February 2017. It will be approximately 304 pages, will be a paperback, and the estimated price is $27.99 (cheap!).

Here is the Table of Contents as it now appears in the manuscript so that you can see how wide-ranging the interpretations are:

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Afterlives of Jesus’ Parables in Antiquity (to 500 CE)

Irenaeus

The Gospel of Philip

Clement of Alexandria

Tertullian

Origen

John Chrysostom

Augustine

Macrina the Younger

Ephrem the Syrian

The Good Shepherd in Early Christian Art

Oil lamp (3^rd Century)

Roman catacombs

Dura Europos house church

Illuminations from the Rossano Gospels 

Byzantine mosaics; S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy.

Romanos the Melodist

Chapter 2: The Afterlives of Jesus’ Parables in the Middle Ages (ca. 500–1500 CE)

Gregory the Great

Sahih al-Bukhari

Wazo of Liège

The Golden Gospels of Echternach

Theophylact

Hildegard of Bingen

Chartres Cathedral

Bonaventure

Thomas Aquinas

John Gower

Antonia Pulci

Albrecht Dürer

Chapter 3: The Afterlives of Jesus’ Parables in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Martin Luther

Anna Jansz of Rotterdam

John Calvin

John Maldonatus

William Shakespeare

Domenico Fetti

George Herbert

Roger Williams

Rembrandt

John Bunyan

Chapter 4: The Afterlives of Jesus’ Parables in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

William Blake

Søren Kierkegaard

Frederick Douglass

Fanny Crosby

Leo Tolstoy

John Everett Millais

Emily Dickinson

Charles Spurgeon

Adolf Jülicher

Chapter 5: The Afterlives of Jesus’ Parables in Antiquity in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Thomas Hart Benton

Parables and the Blues (Robert Wilkins)

Flannery O’Connor

Martin Luther King, Jr

Godspell

Latin American Receptions

Peasants from Solentiname / José Arana

Elsa Tamez

David Flusser

Octavia Butler

Thich Nhat Hanh

Conclusion

Appendix: Descriptions of the Parables cited in the Interpretations

Bibliography

The Parables of Jesus in Islamic Literature (Part 3)

This post is one I did not expect to write, but its impetus stems from some of the responses I have received to my previous two postings about the parables of Jesus in Islamic literature. Here are two examples of very disappointing responses to my posts:

The Quran is merely Satan's deception of the Islamic peoples. It is a perversion of the Word of God and as such should be shunned.

Why do you attempt to make peace with those whom God is against ? God is against false religion false teachings and false prophets .So whose side are you on ?

I will not engage directly with the people writing such comments, but I do find it extremely troubling that some people are so scared of knowledge and of dialogue with other human beings. Such comments also parallel, in my view, the unfortunate Islamophobia in parts of the United States population.

Since I am a New Testament scholar, none of my publications have been about other religions, but I do from time to time teach an Introduction to Religion course at Oxford College of Emory University. Our students are fantastically diverse, religiously and otherwise, and I never fail to learn from them. We all cultivate an appreciation of and respect for traditions and beliefs that are different from our own, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and so on.

In one of my first posts on this blog, I used a quote from Mikhail Bakhtin to illustrate one reason why I did reception history, and that quote seems to apply here as well: “Truth is not born nor is it to be found inside the head of an individual person, it is born between people collectively searching for truth, in the process of their dialogic interaction” (The Problem of Dostoevsky’s Poetics, p. 110).

The negative comments in red above, however, are not completely foreign to me. They are vaguely reminiscent of remarks from some people who reject the need for careful scholarly study of the sources, traditions, and development of the traditions in the Gospels about Jesus--including the rejection of any "quest of the historical Jesus," when a simple reading of the Gospels side-by-side illustrates the necessity of such a scholarly exploration.  

In response to those arguments against reading historical Jesus scholarship, here is what I wrote in the conclusion of my book, What Are They Saying about the Historical Jesus?:

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?'' They said to him, "Rabbi . . . where are you staying?" He said to them , "Come and see" (John 1:38-39a).

. . . . [deleted two pages]

Why should we take the effort to search for Jesus and to reconstruct his message? This effort is fascinating on a purely historical level , but Charles Hedrick suggests another very important reason for Christians to ponder:

The savior worshiped in song and prayer seems so easy to understand . . . [but] studying Jesus, rather than simply affirming creedal statements learned in childhood, can bring new insights, a broader understanding, and a deeper appreciation for the complementary relationship between faith and history (When History and Faith Collide, xii).

Many Christians, at first, discover that academic reconstructions of the historical Jesus can be disconcerting if not troublesome for their faith. In the long run, however, such efforts most often lead to a more authentic, robust, and mature faith. The historical Jesus still challenges our hearts, minds, and imaginations, and, as we search for "where he is staying," he is there before us, dialogically inviting us to "Come and see . . . ."

We learn from others. The historical Jesus may not be who or what you currently think he is. He probably didn't even look like what the vast majority of people think he looked like:

"The Real Face of Jesus" according to some scientists

The Parables of Jesus in Islamic Literature (Part 2)

Sahih al-Bukhari

I do have a bit more to day about the nature of hadith literature and its traditions about Jesus (in contrast with the Qur'an) before I start talking about the specific hadith traditions about parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.        

The Qur’an is more concerned about "correcting" doctrinal errors about Jesus (e.g., that he died on a cross or is part of a Trinity), but the traditions in the hadith include many more teachings and miracles. 

In these hadith traditions, Jesus can be seen as both an apocalyptic figure—central to the Muslim concept of the end of the world—and as a figure more closely connected to popular piety and moral discourse. In addition, Jesus in hadith literature is especially concerned about “the least of these,” and he illustrates the Muslim virtues of poverty and humility (Outcalt 2014: 109). 

By the ninth century CE, sayings by Jesus in hadith traditions usually fall within five categories: (1) eschatological sayings and discussions of Jesus’s return; (2) sayings reminiscent of sayings in the Gospels; (3) ascetic sayings and stories; (4) sayings that involve intra-Muslim polemics; (5) and clarifications of the relationship between Muhammad and Jesus, including details of what Jesus looked like (e.g., a fair complexion, moderate height, and with beautiful long hair that was neither too curly or too straight; Leirvik 2010: 37–39; Khalidi 2001: 32–34).

Next up on the blog is a look at the fascinating (and quite understandable) developments in the tradition concerning the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

One note about the book: I am spending  whatever spare time I have trying to track down the remaining digital images that I want for the book and am beginning to contact copyright holders concerning the use of those images, as well as the poems, songs, film scripts, and other copyrighted items included in the book (beyond fair or public domain use).

The Parables of Jesus in Islamic Literature (Part 1)

Sahih al-Bukhari (ca. 870 CE)

Part of the fun of writing this book was exploring interpretations and interpreters that were either completely new to me or were not as familiar as they should have been. As far as publishing the results, the "down" side is that sometimes--if not many or most times--I did not know as much as an expert in that field would know, whether I was writing about Flannery O'Connor, Frederick Douglass, William Shakespeare, Octavia Butler, Thich Nhat Hanh, or other such interpreters.

On the other hand, as a scholar of the parables, when I was writing about their use of the parables in particular, I had insights into those interpreters that specialists did not have. It was exciting to find aspects that had not to my knowledge been noted before. 

Almost two years ago, when I first started researching for the book, I discovered some interpretations of the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard in Islamic hadith that were fascinating. Since those interpretations contrasted in extremely interesting ways with interpretations in the early Christian church and the "Church Fathers," I decided to write about those interpreters first, so I could compare the interpretations more cogently.

In addition, when I was teaching the sophomore Honors Seminar--"A Chorus of Voices: The 'Afterlives' of the Parables," one of the students in the class, Rema Elmostafa, also discovered these interpretations and did some excellent work on them. You can find her work on the "A Chorus of Voices" blog from the class that is in the "My Blog List" on the right side of this page. Our class conversations about the interpretations in the hadith were very enlightening.

I also want to thank my friend and colleague, Dr. Florian Pohl, who read through the section of my book devoted to this topic. He offered several helpful comments and suggestions. The errors, as always, remain my own.

First a brief general introduction to this topic: 

The Qur’an indicates that God’s verbal supreme revelation has been revealed in written form to humankind in four different collections:

• Torah (revealed through Moses; Sura 6:154)
• Psalms (revealed through David; Sura 17:55)
• Gospel (revealed through Jesus, which fulfilled what was revealed in the Torah; Sura 5:46)
• Qur’an (revealed through Muhammad, which confirms both the Torah and Gospel, explains them, and has greater authority than them; Suras 3:3–4; 5:48; 10:37; 12:111; see Moucarry 2002: 26).

The Qur’an includes traditions from the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Moses and Abraham) and the New Testament (e.g., Mary, John the Baptist, and Jesus). Further development of these traditions took place in the hadith (“recollections”; Arabic plural = ahadith), which are collections of traditions reporting a saying or action of Muhammad or, less often, one of his companions (Khalidi 2001: 25–26). Hadith literature includes Muhammad’s reactions to various events, his opinions on numerous matters, and the reasoning he used to reach his decisions. Muhammad taught that Islam was not a new religion; instead, he proclaimed the religion that God had revealed through the prophets. Beginning with Adam, the succeeding stream of prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others, had proclaimed the unity of God, submitting and worshiping God alone, and following the entirety of God’s law. Islamic teachings and practice are, in part, understood as corrections of Judaism and Christianity, the two monotheistic traditions that preceded Islam, which partly explains why traditions about previous biblical figures are divergent from how they appear in the Bible (Outcalt 2014: 95–98).

The Qur’an and the hadith collections constitute the two most important sources for Islamic faith and practice, and the Sahih al-Bukhari and the Sahih Muslim bin al-Hajjaj are the two most authoritative of the six “canonical” collections, with the Sahih al-Bukhari being considered the “most authentic” collection.  

I'll start the next post with a few more comments about the Qur’an and hadith traditions (e.g., some comparisons about their treatments of Jesus), before moving on to talk about the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard in the hadith, specifically Sahih al-Bukhari.

Finished! (with a caveat) and what's up next (Parables in Islamic Literature)

Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son

I have finished proofing and editing the final copy of the manuscript. It is ready to send off to Baker Academic, which I will do tomorrow (Monday) morning.

This afternoon I will restart the process of obtain digital images of the works of art I want to include in the book, as well as obtaining permissions for them. I also need to obtain permissions for the poetry, music, and film I quote in the book.

Tomorrow morning I will also start a series on parables in Islamic literature. I will focus on the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard and the interpretation found in the Sahih al-Bukhari.

Finished? One more proof reading before I turn it in

Proofreading the manuscript today at Pitts Theology Library in between meetings

January was a difficult month for a number of personal and professional reasons, but I am pleased to report that last Thursday I printed out the entire manuscript for the Reception History of the Parables book (no official title yet). 

It is 404 pages (it will be shorter in published book form), and the word count of the main sections is very close to the word count in the contract with Baker Academic. Thanks to Bryan Dyer for his help there. All in all I cut over 60,000 words.

I have proofread the Preface, Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 already, and have done two sections of Chapter 3. I will send the final manuscript to Baker by Monday at the latest.

What is left to do? I do not yet have digital versions of some of the images I want to include, and I do not yet have permissions for most things (images, poems, song lyrics, film excerpts (texts of them), etc. For this type of book, there are many permissions to obtain (and fees to pay). 

Then there also is the regular process with the publisher, including the galleys, page proofs, and numerous odds and ends. But it is all worth it.

I am very pleased with the chapters themselves and look forward to seeing the book in print.

Next week I will begin working in earnest (along with some additional Oxford College responsibilities) on the next book project: a book on Howard Thurman and the parables that I plan to do with my friend and colleague Kipton Jensen of Morehouse College. 

I haven't yet decided what to start posting about next on the blog on receptions of the parables, but there are a lot of choices. 

Parables and "An Economy for the 1%"

"An Economy of the 1%"

I have finished writing both the Preface and the Conclusion to the book. I decided to cut a few paragraphs from the earlier draft I had written, and this blog post consists of a section of the Conclusion that I deleted from the draft. It originally came after I had written a couple paragraphs about the responses that Jesus expects from hearers of his parables, including the fact that understanding should lead to concrete actions. Here is the deleted section, but one that deserves to be posted on this blog:

One example will suffice to illustrate the continuing relevance of the parables of Jesus in ethical responses to issues in human society: According to an Oxfam International briefing paper published in 2016, “An Economy for the 1%,” we live in a world where 1% of the population has more wealth than the remaining 99% and where sixty-two people own more wealth than the entire bottom half of the world’s population (in 2015; https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/bp210-economy-one-percent-tax-havens-180116-en_0.pdf).

There is little doubt as to how Jesus, himself near the bottom of the first-century socio-economic ladder, would respond, and how he would expect those who claim to follow him and his teachings to respond. And many of the interpreters of the parables in this book have reacted similarly:

As Theophylact says about the parable of the Rich Fool, the “stomachs of the poor” are the storehouses in which our excess food should be stored: “They are in fact heavenly and divine storehouses, for he who feeds the pauper, feeds God (1997: 147).

Or, as Martin Luther King, Jr. explains the same parable:

The answer is simple: feed the poor, clothe the naked, and heal the sick. Where can we store our goods? Again the answer is simple: we can store our surplus food free of charge in the shriveled stomachs of the millions of God’s children who go to bed hungry at night. We can use our vast resources of wealth to wipe poverty from the earth. 

Or, as Pope Gregory writes about the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we all have “many brothers of Lazarus” that we encounter every day: “Therefore do not lose the opportunity of doing works of mercy; do not store unused the good things you possess” (Gregory 1960: 158).

Or, as John Chrysostom notes about the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, since Jesus commands us to help our neighbors in need, the fact that our neighbors are in need is more than enough reason to come to their aid. Most importantly, Chrysostom argues, the parable demonstrates that when you help someone in need, you are, in reality, helping Jesus, who gave his own life to save you (Homily 79.2).

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in a conversation with a lawyer. The lawyer “tested” Jesus by asking him what he had to do to inherit eternal life. The lawyer already knew the answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.”

Jesus responds: “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live” (10:25-28).

The lawyer then asked Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?” (10:29), and Jesus replies with a parable that describes the extraordinary actions of a man, a hated Samaritan, who assists another human being in need, after two religious people ignore the helpless man.

The conversation between Jesus and the lawyer concludes:

[Jesus said,] “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:36-37).

That’s what Jesus means earlier when he says, “Do this, and you will live.”

Another image that reinforces the importance of helping others and the impermanence of material wealth is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch that I saw in the National Gallery in Washington, DC: Death and the Miser (ca. 1485-1490). It is a genre painting, but it also could be seen as an illustration of the Rich Fool parable in Luke: