By Brian C. Stiller
Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 2005. Paper, 200 pages.
ISBN 08006-37135.
Do
we need another book on preaching the parables? Brian Stiller — President of
Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto — has provided a volume that
offers valuable insights on the value of the parables for postmoderns, and help
to pastors in applying biblical truth in today's culture.
The
author begins with a helpful (though quite brief) summary of postmodernity,
then offers an extended discussion of Jesus' parables and why they can be used
so effectively in preaching to our contemporary culture. He then offers a study
of ten different parables, and concludes with four model sermons based on parables
of Jesus.
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Stiller
observes, "The form of public speaking perfected in first-century Canaan
by Jesus offers a way of speaking into the mind/heart of a person of the twenty-first
century. Image-driven and story-taught, these current generations not only have
enormous experience in operating within stories, they know how to exegete, making
sense of what is said by way of image and metaphor, applying to life the lessons
taught.
"For
all generations, the parabolic form has been a powerful tool in communicating
the message of Jesus to any culture and people. Today it has increased suitability.
The postmodern mind is remarkably open to this form of thinking about life.
This, in the end, is biblical preaching, even if hearers may not think of it
that way. The parabolic form is like a stealth bomber, sweeping undetected under
the radar of postmodern angst, yet able to deliver that which is biblical and
Christ-centered."
Preaching
Parables to Postmoderns will be a helpful book to any preacher or teacher
who wishes to communicate biblical truth effectively in today's culture. As
Timothy George observes, the book "is both faithful to the biblical texture
of these ancient stories and sensitive to the world in which they must be proclaimed
today."