BOOK REVIEW: STORIES WITH INTENT

My Review of STORIES WITH INTENT: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Klyne R. Snodgrass). W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, 2008). 846pp.

Reading Klyne Snodgrass’ Stories with Intent brought wonderful memories of sitting some 13 years ago in an awesome evening lecture called ‘The Parable of Jesus’ given by the author at North Park Theological Seminary. It was announced then that Professor Snodgrass had been given a grant by the Pew Evangelical Scholars to undertake the writing of a book on the parables of Jesus. A look at Snodgrass' long career in the area of biblical studies will reveal that this project is not something new or unfamiliar to him. Snodgrass’ interest in the parables of Jesus is apparent when he first wrote his doctoral dissertation[1] under the supervision of Professor Matthew Black of St. Andrew. It can be claimed that this present work represents Professor Snodgrass’ magnus opus in the area of biblical studies. His love of the parables of Jesus can be read in the preface to his book: ‘This is unapologetically and quite consciously a selfishly motivated book.’

Snodgrass’ claim that his book is a ‘Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus’ is shown by the massive amount of information found in the book. With 31 pages of introduction and approximately another 30 pages of discussion on the parables from the ancient world, the work is unrivalled. The commentary on the parables alone takes up more than 500 pages. Snodgrass’ interpretation of the parables is written and presented in a consistent style. There are almost 200 pages of notes with more than 40 pages of bibliography on primary and secondary literature. The book also includes appendices and indexes which substantiates the book’s claim to be truly comprehensive.

Snodgrass makes the point that the parables did not exclusively belong to Jesus or to Christianity. Some of the materials in Jesus’ parables may not have originated from him. Jesus could have possibly taken the material from traditions which were widely used by local communities in first century Judaism or hundred years earlier as testified in the Old Testament. Snodgrass is right to say that as a story teller, Jesus took full control of his stories. He made the conscious choice to teach in the form of parables. Although we may not know where the stories come from, the parables of Jesus are still relevant today transcending cultures, localities, genders, and languages. However, the author’s claim that the parables of Jesus are the most influential stories in the world (p. 1) requires some caution. In some parts of the world where Christianity is not the main religion, Jesus and his teachings are not influential as claimed. Nevertheless, Snodgrass' assertion about the effectiveness of the use of story telling by Jesus to impart teaching is correct.

The author tells us that he is aiming to uncover the intent of Jesus (p. 3) while approaching and interpreting the parables. Snodgrass does not want to be trapped by subjective interpretations, which follow the intent (or the interest) of the church, the psychologist, the sociologist, the feminist, etc. Snodgrass shows that he is aware of the dangers of allowing presuppositions to dominate one’s work. In this respect, he brings the true spirit of biblical studies into his work. He repeatedly makes this claim in the first chapter of the book. At the same time, he gives a sound suggestion in approaching Jesus’ parables: ‘the parables needs to be allowed to speak for themselves – there is no need for the parables to be theologized, domesticated,…’ This suggestion unfortunately has often been ignored by many who approach and interpret the Bible for the sake of their own self interests.

Stories with Intent is significantly helpful in providing readers with a history of interpretation of the parables, through which the readers are encouraged to learn from past scholars. This particular section helps the readers to avoid making the same mistakes of previous interpreters and to utilize sound principles while interpreting the parables of Jesus. The book also presents a detail explanation of the parables from the view of the Old Testament, Early and Later Jewish periods, and Greco-Roman and Early Church setting (pp. 37-60). This information is invaluable as other works on the parables of Jesus seldom touch on the area. Other sections that are important in this work are the discussion on the definition of the parable (pp. 7-9), the classification of the parables of Jesus (pp. 9-15), and the discussion on allegory and allegorizing, from St. Augustine to Adolf Julicher to recent modern scholarship (pp. 15-17).

The author provides a detail description of the parables of Jesus (pp. 17-22). Snodgrass suggests that there are 11 characteristics of the parables, for example, the first characteristic is that most of the parables of Jesus are brief while the second characteristic is that most of Jesus' teachings in parables are made up of simple stories. Paradoxically, these simple and brief stories require substantial elaboration in numerous publications such as Stories with Intent.

In pages 31-35, Snodgrass asserts the superiority of the teachings of Jesus (especially in his parables) above the local contexts of the individual gospel, though he sensitively does not ignore the role of those contexts in shaping the final form of the parables. By agreeing with James D. G. Dunn,[2] the author accords validity to the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the gospels (p. 35). This position is important for evangelical readers, although some readers express doubt about the author’s theological position.[3]

In his lengthy interpretation of the parables, Snodgrass is surprisingly consistent. He diligently questions each parable. Key issues like the type of parable, subject matter requiring further attention, primary source material, comparison of the accounts, notable textual features, cultural information, explanation, adaptation, and a list of significant references are discussed and analyzed. Snodgrass helps his readers to understand the meaning of each parable and also to provide guidelines for them to make independent and satisfactory interpretation of the parables. Snodgrass intends to provide the adequate tools for those who seriously want to dig and uncover Jesus’ parables.

As the most comprehensive text-book on the parables of Jesus, Stories with Intent is specially written by a seasoned lecturer and expert for pastors and students. Seminary students will certainly benefit from the book’s comprehensiveness. Readers will also be able to search for topics related to the parables of Jesus from a single text-book. The usefulness of the book will be long lasting.

As most pastors will not have the time to read though the details of the book, they can still appreciate the ‘explanation’ and ‘adaptation’ sections of the parables’ interpretation. In these two sections, the author is appreciated for providing vivid and relevant examples and illustrations, for example, the story of Albert Schweitzer (p. 433) in responding to Luke 16.19-31 is an interesting case. The choice of Schweitzer shows how the author brilliantly brings the real testimony of a great Christian into the context of Jesus’ parable. It shows that the parables are relevant for all ages. It also shows the depth of the author’s thinking and reflection, not only in the area of biblical studies, but also in the area of the history of Christian mission.

In the final part of this preview, let me speak as someone whose background and setting are different from Professor Snodgrass. Because of the thickness and density of the book, I believe very few students and pastors in Indonesia will ever read Stories with Intent. As a lecturer in the area of biblical studies for the last ten years, I foresee that less than five percent of seminary students in Indonesia will read (or enjoy reading) Stories with Intent. Firstly, there is the language barrier as most of the Indonesians have difficulties in reading English. Secondly, there is the financial barrier as the book is beyond the means of the ordinary reader or theological student. Thirdly, there is the mindset barrier as many students and pastors may feel that the book is not an important resource to help them in the areas of teaching and preaching. These comments do not impinge on the qualities of the author and the book. They imply that the book (in its original form) may not find a rousing welcome as it should. It is sad especially when the author declares that the parables of Jesus are the most influential stories on earth.

I make two suggestions. Firstly, because the book is intended to be a comprehensive work, the thickness of the book is unavoidable. However, the presentation style of the book can be improved as it is presently rather dense. The book seems to be written to benefit mostly the academia rather than the practitioners. The use of footnotes is preferred for the reading comfort of the students, pastors, and lecturers (at least in the Third World). This will relegate lesser important material to the margin while keeping the more important stuff in the main body.

Secondly, because of the lower level of comprehension, most theological students and pastors will not be able to digest all information provided by the book. While they can certainly attempt to read the whole book, most of them will be continuously challenged by the constraints of time, study, and work. Professor Snodgrass may be interested to publish a condensed version of Stories with Intent which will certainly allow his work to impact more readers in this part of the world.

I am very positive about the far-reaching contributions of Stories with Intent. I offer my deepest respect to Professor Klyne Snodgrass for being my favorite teacher and a very good friend. I owe him a great debt for bringing me to see the beauty and riches of biblical studies. More than anybody else, he is responsible in leading and guiding me to love the Bible and especially the parables of Jesus.

[1] Published as The Parable of the Wicked Tenants. 1983. WUNT 27. Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr. [2] ‘The only Jesus accessible to us is the remembered Jesus, Jesus as he impacted the disciples…’ James D. G. Dunn. Jesus Remembered - Christianity in the Making. Vol 1. 2003. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. [3] The conversations and discussions in blogs and e-mails indicate that not all American readers know Snodgrass’ theological position. For some readers, this issue seems to be very critical.