How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart
Week 8: Chapter 8 — The Parables: Do You Have Ears to Hear?
Read Chapter 8 of How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Key texts: Luke 15 (Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Prodigal Son); Mark 4:1–20.
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Jesus's parables are some of the most brilliantly crafted stories in all of literature — and they were designed to confront, not merely illustrate.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Fee and Stuart explain that for much of Christian history, parables were read as extended allegories — where every detail has a hidden spiritual meaning. What went wrong with this approach, and what classic examples of allegorizing do they point to as cautionary tales?
2.The authors argue that most parables were designed to make one central point, and that reading them well requires identifying that main point rather than pressing every detail for meaning. How does this 'one-point' principle change the way you read a familiar parable like the Prodigal Son?
3.Fee and Stuart help us see that Jesus's parables were not gentle illustrations but confrontational stories designed to force a response. The parable of the Prodigal Son, for example, was aimed at the Pharisees (represented by the elder brother). How does understanding the original audience transform the meaning and the sting of the parable?
a.Who are you most like in the story — the younger son, the elder son, or someone else?
b.What is the parable confronting in you?
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