William Herzog Reads Jesus’ Parables, Brings them Down to Earth

Last updated on: February 13, 2023 at 8:14 am by Jack Hartjes

William Herzog Reads Jesus’ Parables, Brings them Down to Earth 2023-02-13T08:14:08-06:00 Jack Hartjes

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The cover of "Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed" by William Herzog. An image illustrates the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man.

Many of Jesus’ parables were earthy stories with as much earthly as heavenly applications according to this book by William R. Herzog II.

William R. Herzog II says he wrote a book about Jesus’ parables after puzzling about the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. My dad once told me how he felt about that very parable. It wasn’t just. The landowner should not have paid laborers who worked all day the same wage as those who only worked one hour. I could easily understand. Dad was a banker; financial doings were important to him. My response, which I don’t remember after all these years, probably appealed to the spiritual meaning of the parable. When it comes to God’s grace, human merit has no claim. We are all unworthy. God can be generous to anyone, and no one has any business complaining.

What if Dad was right not to like this parable? Jesus’ audience might not have like it either. Maybe Jesus was trying to make them think harder than they were comfortable with, not about grace, but about the oppressive conditions under which nearly all of his listeners lived.

That is the kind of interpretation William Herzog aims at in Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. He works against the traditional view of parables as “earthly stories with heavenly meanings.” (Chapter 1. See note below.) In a previous post I came to the same conclusion, writing about some of the parables in Mark. In some of these parables, I opined, “the meaning as well as the tone is quite earthly.” Parables are narratives or pictures that leave one wondering about how to apply them. Thus they stimulate active thought. Herzog asks, What if the deeper thinking Jesus was pulling his listeners toward was about things more earthly than heavenly.

In this and future posts I will be following Herzog through several of Jesus’ parables.

William Herzog, Paulo Freire, and the pedagogy of the oppressed

Jesus parables are mostly pictures of everyday life, which we like to think of as metaphors for more abstract moral or theological truths. Herzog asks, What if the parables are simply what they sound like? Specifically: what they must have sounded like to peasant laborers under the thumbs of foreign and domestic elites.

To better understand this situation of Jesus and his peasant listeners, Herzog adopts a model that theologian Paulo Freire proposed. Freire worked in a situation similar in some important respects to Jesus’. Paulo Freire was teacher and activist in support of poor and oppressed people in Brazil. The model that Freire embodied and Herzog applies to Jesus is: “pedagogue of the oppressed.”

Developing a model, William Herzog says, keeps an interpreter aware of what otherwise might be hidden biases. But the model, or exposed bias if you will, must be tested. For Herzog the test is whether or not the model—Jesus as pedagogue of the oppressed—helps to interpret several parables. Does it clear up some puzzles that bedevil more usual ways of interpreting parables? Herzog tries his model out on nine parables, a limited but significant selection.

Interpreting biblical literature

There’s more than one way to interpret the Bible, and William Herzog has chosen a method that is not the most recent. He explores the situation in which Jesus ministered, including its economic, political, and religious context. He tries to uncover the actual words of Jesus behind passed-down memories and the sometimes spiritualizing interpretations of the biblical authors.

As a Catholic Christian, I must pay attention to the stories as they appear in the Bible. The interpretations of the Spirit-led authors of Scripture are important. So is the way the text challenges me in the 21st century. Some of the most recently developed methods for interpreting delve deeply into the meanings of the text just as we find it.

But a foundational Christian belief is that God entered history. God became a historical person, to which Scripture gives witness, but not always clearly and straightforwardly. I don’t know which is more important, the revelation that the words of Scripture inspire in the receptive reader or the revealing in what has been called the “quest for the historical Jesus.” But I’m sure that we increase our understanding of God when we attempt to uncover that history behind the Bible. Besides, it’s a fascinating study and worthwhile even for the contribution to understanding our world that all history makes.

The next post will explain in more detail the “pedagogy of the oppressed” model. Herzog dives into the history, sociology, politics, economics, and religions of Jesus’ era to help understand the parables. I will indicate why that approach to me seems likely to bear fruit. The real test will be in the parables themselves. They’ll be the focus of following posts.

Image credit: Westminster/John Knox Press

Note: References will cite chapters instead of page numbers because I’m working with an online version of Herzog’s book.

History and Religion

Bible

Herzog

Parables

Previous Post

August 28, 2022

Does a Land-based ICBM Force Keep Us Safe from Nuclear Armageddon

Next Post

September 19, 2022 Paulo Freire, the “Pedagogue of the Oppressed”: Is This a Good Fit for Jesus?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Christmas Amazon Synod Angels Being Consumed Bible Catholic Modern Creed Ecology Economics Elizabeth Johnson Eucharist Fragments and Filaments Gender and Sex Gospel of Mark Herzog Historical Jesus Liturgy Luke Opening Scriptures on Way to Emmaus Ordinary radicals Parables Pro-Life Reincarnation Rosary Sacraments science Social Justice Souls Stories of Jesus The Creed Torture and Eucharist Tracy Uncategorized War and Peace

Select a Month October 2026 June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 July 2024 March 2024 December 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz