David B. Gowler is Pierce Professor of Religion at Oxford College of Emory University, Senior Faculty Fellow at the Center for Ethics at Emory University, and Co-Editor of Emory Studies in Early Christianity. He is the author of  Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend: Portraits of the Pharisees in Luke and Acts;  What Are They Saying about the Parables?;  What Are They Saying about the Historical Jesus?;  James through the Centuries; and  The Parables after Jesus: Their Imaginative Receptions across Two Millennia. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese. He has also published dozens of articles, book chapters, and book reviews, and is the editor or coeditor of over thirty books.

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in Antiquity (to ca. 550 CE)IrenaeusThe Gospel of PhilipClement of AlexandriaTertullianOrigenJohn ChrysostomAugustineMacrina the YoungerEphrem the SyrianThe Good Shepherd in Early Christian ArtOil LampRoman CatacombsDura-Europos House ChurchIlluminations from the Rossano GospelsByzantine Mosaics, Christ Separating Sheep from Goats, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (Ravenna, Italy)Romanos the Melodist2. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Middle Ages (ca. 550–1500 CE)Gregory the GreatSahih al-BukhariWazo of LiègeThe Golden Gospels of EchternachThe Laborers in the VineyardThe Wicked TenantsThe Great DinnerThe Rich Man and LazarusTheophylactHildegard of BingenChartres CathedralBonaventureThomas AquinasJohn GowerAntonia PulciAlbrecht Dürer3. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesMartin LutherAnna Jansz of RotterdamJohn CalvinJohn MaldonatusWilliam ShakespeareDomenico FettiGeorge HerbertRoger WilliamsRembrandt Harmenszoon van RijnJohn Bunyan4. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturiesWilliam BlakeSøren KierkegaardFrederick DouglassFanny CrosbyLeo TolstoyJohn Everett MillaisEmily DickinsonCharles Haddon SpurgeonAdolf Jülicher5. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesThomas Hart BentonParables and the Blues: Rev. Robert WilkinsFlannery O'ConnorMartin Luther King Jr.GodspellTwo Latin American ReceptionsThe Peasants of SolentinameElsa TamezDavid FlusserOctavia ButlerThich Nhat HanhConclusion: What Do Parables Want?Appendix: Descriptions of the Parables Cited in the InterpretationsWorks CitedScripture IndexSubject Index

David B. Gowler is Pierce Professor of Religion at Oxford College of Emory University, Senior Faculty Fellow at the Center for Ethics at Emory University, and Co-Editor of Emory Studies in Early Christianity. He is the author of  Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend: Portraits of the Pharisees in Luke and Acts;  What Are They Saying about the Parables?;  What Are They Saying about the Historical Jesus?;  James through the Centuries; and  The Parables after Jesus: Their Imaginative Receptions across Two Millennia. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese. He has also published dozens of articles, book chapters, and book reviews, and is the editor or coeditor of over thirty books.

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in Antiquity (to ca. 550 CE)IrenaeusThe Gospel of PhilipClement of AlexandriaTertullianOrigenJohn ChrysostomAugustineMacrina the YoungerEphrem the SyrianThe Good Shepherd in Early Christian ArtOil LampRoman CatacombsDura-Europos House ChurchIlluminations from the Rossano GospelsByzantine Mosaics, Christ Separating Sheep from Goats, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (Ravenna, Italy)Romanos the Melodist2. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Middle Ages (ca. 550–1500 CE)Gregory the GreatSahih al-BukhariWazo of LiègeThe Golden Gospels of EchternachThe Laborers in the VineyardThe Wicked TenantsThe Great DinnerThe Rich Man and LazarusTheophylactHildegard of BingenChartres CathedralBonaventureThomas AquinasJohn GowerAntonia PulciAlbrecht Dürer3. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesMartin LutherAnna Jansz of RotterdamJohn CalvinJohn MaldonatusWilliam ShakespeareDomenico FettiGeorge HerbertRoger WilliamsRembrandt Harmenszoon van RijnJohn Bunyan4. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturiesWilliam BlakeSøren KierkegaardFrederick DouglassFanny CrosbyLeo TolstoyJohn Everett MillaisEmily DickinsonCharles Haddon SpurgeonAdolf Jülicher5. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesThomas Hart BentonParables and the Blues: Rev. Robert WilkinsFlannery O'ConnorMartin Luther King Jr.GodspellTwo Latin American ReceptionsThe Peasants of SolentinameElsa TamezDavid FlusserOctavia ButlerThich Nhat HanhConclusion: What Do Parables Want?Appendix: Descriptions of the Parables Cited in the InterpretationsWorks CitedScripture IndexSubject Index

David B. Gowler is Pierce Professor of Religion at Oxford College of Emory University, Senior Faculty Fellow at the Center for Ethics at Emory University, and Co-Editor of Emory Studies in Early Christianity. He is the author of  Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend: Portraits of the Pharisees in Luke and Acts;  What Are They Saying about the Parables?;  What Are They Saying about the Historical Jesus?;  James through the Centuries; and  The Parables after Jesus: Their Imaginative Receptions across Two Millennia. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese. He has also published dozens of articles, book chapters, and book reviews, and is the editor or coeditor of over thirty books.

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in Antiquity (to ca. 550 CE)IrenaeusThe Gospel of PhilipClement of AlexandriaTertullianOrigenJohn ChrysostomAugustineMacrina the YoungerEphrem the SyrianThe Good Shepherd in Early Christian ArtOil LampRoman CatacombsDura-Europos House ChurchIlluminations from the Rossano GospelsByzantine Mosaics, Christ Separating Sheep from Goats, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (Ravenna, Italy)Romanos the Melodist2. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Middle Ages (ca. 550–1500 CE)Gregory the GreatSahih al-BukhariWazo of LiègeThe Golden Gospels of EchternachThe Laborers in the VineyardThe Wicked TenantsThe Great DinnerThe Rich Man and LazarusTheophylactHildegard of BingenChartres CathedralBonaventureThomas AquinasJohn GowerAntonia PulciAlbrecht Dürer3. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesMartin LutherAnna Jansz of RotterdamJohn CalvinJohn MaldonatusWilliam ShakespeareDomenico FettiGeorge HerbertRoger WilliamsRembrandt Harmenszoon van RijnJohn Bunyan4. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturiesWilliam BlakeSøren KierkegaardFrederick DouglassFanny CrosbyLeo TolstoyJohn Everett MillaisEmily DickinsonCharles Haddon SpurgeonAdolf Jülicher5. The Afterlives of Jesus's Parables in the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesThomas Hart BentonParables and the Blues: Rev. Robert WilkinsFlannery O'ConnorMartin Luther King Jr.GodspellTwo Latin American ReceptionsThe Peasants of SolentinameElsa TamezDavid FlusserOctavia ButlerThich Nhat HanhConclusion: What Do Parables Want?Appendix: Descriptions of the Parables Cited in the InterpretationsWorks CitedScripture IndexSubject Index