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I have long taken an interest in the re-expression of the Gospel not only in language but also in illustrations.

Examples of this are Kierkegaard's parable of the geese.

As it is too long to post here (though it would not break copyright), I provide a link to Parables for Modern Academia

Some people like these new interpretations, others think we should stick to those provided in the Bible.

What are your views? Should we translate metaphors as well as text as appropriate to our audiences?
Do you have any you have found or created to share?

I have some surfing parable re-interpretations if there is a favourable response.

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John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

I don't see any issues with Parable re-illustrations as long as they are not taken as inspired and infallable . It's almost the same as giving illustrations during Sermon; being able to make the "table talk" per say to relate to the audience.

If you have any illustrations on Jesus forgiving and healing the Paralyzed Man (Luke 5:17-26) I would love to hear them. A personal favorite passage of mine.

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Studying MDiv. (Biblical Studies) at Tyndale Seminary
My Pastor's testimony "Street Kid to Preacher" - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... 1A10FF286C

Great link, John.

Appreciate the creativity and humor.

I couldn't find the parable of the prodigal professor. It must be in there somewhere.

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Sorry, I see the last one seems to refer to this.

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Thanks for the encouragement, Obadiah and serendipity.

This is one of 'the like' and not a parable. It does illustrate the different types of thinking that may be generalised about the different generations.

Tim Costello in his tips from a travelling soul-searcher (1999) p184 relates a story about three umpires having a beer after a test series.



For those of you who know nothing about cricket, you may like to reflect on how to translate a cultural bound story to perhaps tennis or baseball. I have done this with line calls, foot faults, and nets for tennis, but they don't seem to be the critical decisions that they are in cricket.

And you might like to think how the parables and other stories in the bible are hard for non-bible-literate people to latch on to. So should we educate them about biblical culture or should we 'translate' them into the familiar things of our culture. It seems to me that each of the Gospel writers recast their Gospels as appropriate for their audiences, so it seems Biblical for us to do the same.

Sometimes I wonder if the church is mostly stuck in the first umpire's thinking paradigm, and that contributes to why it has such difficulty relating to baby boomers and Gen X and Gen Y.

Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.

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John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

We, according to John R.W. Stott are to do exegesis of the scripture and exegesis of society in order to bring relevant application. I have used many metaphors and other tools and even parables from other people. We need to understand the Word and then to convey what the word says to contemporary society.

So Yes, use new parables and illustrations.

What does Stott mean by exegesis of society?

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John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

In our worship yesterday the leader came out with a very contemporary illustration.

In essence:

People are the children of God.
Satan the paedophile and child molester has tempted and groomed the children of God away from God for his own evil purposes.
God is the distraught loving parent that wants nothing more than to get his children back and will do anything to get them back. He will even die to get them out of the clutches of the Great Paedophile.
Salvation is our restoration to our true Father.

With a bit of recasting and in the appropriate place this could be a powerful gospel story.

_________________
John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

Here is my rather cautious attempt to re-frame some parables in the context of surfing

What is the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of God is like the perfectly designed and made surfboard that a surfer found in a surfing shop. When he found it he went and sold all his other boards so that he could buy it.

Again:
The Kingdom of God is like the perfect wave the surfer waited all his life to catch.

And again:
The Kingdom of God is like the perfect surf-day the surfer waited for. When she woke up and saw that day had arrived she cancelled* all her business appointments, left her family to fend for themselves and went and surfed all day.


*Text note: We can see the writer has situated the parables in a coastal community setting, probably to the south of the barrier reef behind which surf is not very significant. The writer is also aware of the social impacts of surfing, and may well have experienced times when tradesmen failed to turn up because they had 'gone surfing'.

_________________
John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

lol

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Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!

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John Chaplin, to answer your question. Stott was referring to the exegesis of society as relating to average persons in society and trying to meet their needs by understanding them and then relating them to the Bible. His sermons had two aspects interpreting the text and then applying it to the lives of people by his study of society.