Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 16:2 (Fall 2019)
Article: “Worse Than Idle” Or “Mysteries Of The Gospel”: John Albert Broadus And Benjamin Keach On Interpreting And Preaching The Parables Of Jesus
Author: H. Jared Bumpers

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JBTM 16:2 (Fall 2019) p. 57

“Worse Than Idle” Or “Mysteries Of The Gospel”: John Albert Broadus And Benjamin Keach On Interpreting And Preaching The Parables Of Jesus

H. Jared Bumpers

H. Jared Bumpers is assistant professor of preaching and ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. [email protected]

The parables of Jesus have received much attention in recent years.1 There is general scholarly consensus regarding their significance. David Wenham argued, “Jesus’ parables . . . were part and parcel of his whole ministry; they were a forceful and visual demonstration of what he had come to do.”2 Klyne Snodgrass agreed, “Jesus’ parables are among the best known and most influential stories in the world. . . . The importance of the parables of Jesus can hardly be overestimated.”3 The parables of Jesus were central to his teaching ministry, and any scholarly discussion of the life and ministry of Jesus must take their significance into account.

In spite of general agreement on the importance of the parables, there is little agreement on the interpretation of parables.4 C. H. Dodd discussed the interpretation of parables and admitted, “Here there is no general agreement.”5 Until the late nineteenth century, the dominant approach to interpreting the parables was allegorization.6 The publication of Adolf Jülicher’s two-volume work on the parables changed the interpretive landscape.7 Jülicher “rejected allegory and allegorizing . . . vehemently” and argued parables “were simple comparisons,” “self evident,” and intended to teach one point . . . a general religious

JBTM 16:2 (Fall 2019) p. 58

maxim.”8 Although Jülicher’s work has been challenged and his positions have been largely abandoned, his view “set a framework within which parable interpretation still operates.”9 The majority of contemporary interpreters have followed Jülicher in rejecting allegorical interpretation and viewing parables as simple comparisons intended to teach one main point.10 Yet a minority of scholars acknowledge at least some allegorical elements in Jesus’s parables and are open to the possibility of individual parables ...

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