You are warmly invited to join in a series of Tuesday evenings that will offer a new look at the parables of Jesus. We will be using a DVD resource by the acclaimed Amy-Jill Levine, who teaches at a Christian seminary and highlights the original Jewish context of our Lord’s ministry and teaching – Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. No cost. No prior biblical knowledge needed.

Have a look at the promo link for the series –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLkEqKqTN-4

Location – St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, corner of Princess and Clergy: ample free parking after 5:30 along neighbouring streets and in the civic surface lot behind the church off Queen Street. Please enter by the doors at the top of the stairs by the canon (!) along Clergy Street.

Times: Tuesdays 7-8:30 p.m., October 23 to November 20.

Hosted by our Minister – The Rev. Dr. Andrew Johnston

Come for one, come for some, or come for all. St. Andrew’s Hall. Tea provided!

More Information

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity.

In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School Nashville, Tennessee; and Affiliated Professor at the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations at Cambridge.