Kenneth W. Smith
The early Christian church faced a plethora of religious fronts: a religious clergy that determined the way that Hebrew worship should go, with 10 commandments and 613 legal emendations; A state religion of the conqueror, Rome that elevated the emperor to almost divine status; pagan religions that hosted hundreds of deities; a secularism that permeated all of society and a disorganized group of seekers who kept searching for God’s will. To this world Jesus came to heal, teach and preach with parables.Forsaking argumentation and dependence upon present erudite culture Jesus told the same story that brought its salient point to the listeners, as simple parables marked Jesus theology. In the year 2009 we face a similar audience, along with the addition of the lure of the Internet. These parables speak to every group, but are not Scripture. Scripture leads every parable for it is the will of God that we seek, whether individually, as families, a nation or a world, that God speaks to us in storiesThe author invites you to continue in parables, finding your own. 3
