A HISTORICAL-CRITICAL SURVEY OF JESUS’ PARABLES AS LENS FOR SOCIOECONOMIC AND RELIGIOUS LIFE OF FIRST CENTURY PALESTINE WORLD

Abstract

The significance of the Parables of Jesus as an important element of Jesus' teaching has long been recognized. They reveal Jesus' teachings on matters of faith and life. However, the paper focuses on the parables as sources of the life of the days of Jesus.  Ignorance of the religious, economic, and political life of the time accounts for many misinterpretations and misapplications of the parables in the Bible. The paper adopts survey methods and demonstrates how Jesus’ parables serve as a reliable (with particular reference to the Socio-economic and Religious) source of the Palestine world of the First Century C E. It further demonstrates how the knowledge of the then world will enhance one's understanding of the teachings of Jesus. It recommends that the parables should be read not only for spiritual truths but as lenses to the life of the times of Jesus.