Francis W. Vanderwall

The Liberating Stories of Jesus: Word, Context, Reflections Francis W. Vanderwall

This book is a detailed presentation of the liberating stories of Jesus. They are offered in the context of the cultural, societal, economic, political and religious background against which Jesus proclaimed the imminence of the coming of the Kingdom of God. The purpose of this work is to immerse readers into a hearing of Jesus' parables from the perspective of 1st century Palestine so that their radical demands for personal conversion can be heard anew, as if for the first time. Hence, it ought to leave us all rather uncomfortable for who amongst us has converted to the ways of the Kingdom? Yet, who amongst us does not want to? This book tells you how. It represents a challenge to the Christian believer to clarify his or her Christian faith in the light of the ippsissimus verbum (The very word) of Jesus. A prayer exercise is offered at the end of each Parable to help personalize its point.