The Power of Jesus' Parables: Were They Polemical or Irenic?

Abstract

Parable interpretation is currently dominated by the view that Jesus' parables had a dynamic and life-changing effect on his audiences. This article challenges that view, arguing that it arises from an inappropriate application of the theological view of parables as 'language-events' to historical research. Using J.L. Austin's concept of 'perforrnative language' as a starting point, examples are adduced of instances in which stories and other cultural productions are described as 'doing things' to audiences. These include D. Freedberg's work on the power of images, examples from ancient writers (Plutarch, Augustine) and evidence from traditional (West African) culture where words are attributed with power. An attempt to reconstruct the cultural milieu ('performance arena') of Jesus' parabolic speech is made using K.E. Bailey's work with contemporary Middle Eastern villagers and A. Luria's psychological research on Uzbek peasants in the 1930s; both of which suggest that Jesus' 'Mediterranean Jewish peasant' audiences would have experienced the parables as opaque, rather than as 'earth-shattering'. W.R. Herzog's hypothesis that the parables were used by Jesus in a 'pedagogy of the oppressed' is presented as one plausible 'performance arena', and an alternative model is developed using studies of Eastern European Jewish folklore where parables are used to ameliorate 'problematic social situations'. The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mk 12.1-9) is used as a case study of a parable that might have been used for irenic, rather than provocative, purposes.