Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 61:241 (Jan 1904)
Article: The Psychological Study Of The Words Of Jesus, Especially Of His Parables
Author: Julius A. Bewer

BSac 61:241 (Jan 1904) p. 102

The Psychological Study Of The Words Of Jesus, Especially Of His Parables1

Prof. Julius A. Bewer

Jesus himself in his words, Jesus’ inner life, the experiences of his soul as portrayed in his words,—that is the subject of the psychological study to which we will devote our attention. We are not now to determine the exact truth which Jesus meant to teach in his words, but rather to find out, if we can, what the experiences of his soul were, out of which these utterances were born. What were those strange and yet so real undercurrents of his spiritual life which come to the surface in his words? What psychical states do they presuppose?

Men have always wanted to know more about his inner life because they felt that here, if anywhere, must lie the secret of his personal charm. But they have not always kept in mind, that, if we would understand him well in this his deepest life, we must not bring dogmatic prejudice with us, but must try to understand him as a real son of man. For only thus can we ever gain a true conception of his inner life, of the beauty and also of the strength of his great soul. I believe that the parables of Jesus are of especially great importance for this study; for it is universally recognized that the pictures which a man uses to illustrate his ideas reveal quite faithfully the impressions which have been made on

BSac 61:241 (Jan 1904) p. 103

him by the world about him, especially if he uses them in a natural and not in an artificial manner. And thus we gather frequently the illustrations which a man employs, in order to find what influences have been at work to make him what he is; and so we see how this one is influenced by the mountains in the loftiness of his thoughts and the clearness of his vision; that one by the sea, which has written all its mysterious beauty and all its strong, resistless energy into his heart; and the other by the lowland, with its meadows and its flowers, with its woodlands and its streams. All have been influenced by their surroundings. But all have seen the sky and sun and moon and stars with different eyes and in different surroundings; have heard the birds and beasts, but not the same and not with the same emotions. And we know that when they begin to tell about all this they give us something of their inner life. How much more must this be true of Jesus; for the pictures which he paints in his parables are not mere illustrations as the average preacher uses them to-day, but part and parcel of his own experience, and thus must form a real contribution to the study of his inner life. He teaches only what he has experienced; and the power of his preaching lay in this, that even his illustrations were so completely blended with hi...