The Parable of the Dishonest Manager (or Shrewd Manager), found in Luke 16:1-8, is a notoriously difficult text to interpret. Why does Jesus appear to praise the dishonest steward, and does he intend for us to imitate such actions? In this episode, I will look at this parable in its historical and cultural context, and help us to understand how Jesus and his audience might have understood its meaning. I will also offer some thoughts on Jesus' teaching following the parable concerning "unrighteous wealth."
https://www.hermeneuticofresistance.com/
Episode Bibliography:
Cardenal, Ernesto. The Gospel in Solentiname. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.
Craddock, Fred. Luke (Interpretation). Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.
Culpepper, R. Alan. "Luke" in New Interpreter's Bible, v. IX. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994.
Herzog, William R. Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.

Of all Jesus' parables concerning wealth and poverty, perhaps none has a more scathing denunciation of the excesses of the wealthy than the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-31. In this episode, we find that the parable provides a sharp critique of the wealth inequality of Jesus' time and of our own.
https://www.hermeneuticofresistance.com/
Episode Bibliography:
Barram, Michael. Missional Economics: Biblical Justice and Christian Formation. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018.
Blomberg, Craig. Interpreting the Parables. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990.
Craddock, Fred. Luke (Interpretation). Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.
Herzog, William R. Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.
Levine, Amy-Jill. Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.
Miranda, Jose Porfirio. Communism in the Bible. Translated by Robert R. Barr. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1982.

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Parable of Minas (Luke 19:11-27) are two similar stories.  They both involve a master going away on a journey and entrusting different sums of money to his servants. Almost invariably, popular interpreters have these parables as allegories for the time in between and first and second comings of Jesus. In this readings, the master represents Jesus, who expects to find his disciples hard at work using their gifts in service of his kingdom. However popular, such interpretations are deeply problematic. In this episode, I will explore alternative ways of reading these parables, and suggest an interpretation where the master does not represent Jesus and the third servant, though condemned by the master, is actually a kind of tragic hero.
https://www.hermeneuticofresistance.com/
Episode Bibliography:
Craddock, Fred. Luke (Interpretation). Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.
Herzog, William R. Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.
Johnson, Luke Timothy. “The Lukan Kingship Parable.” Novum Testamentum 24:139-159.
Levine, Amy-Jill. Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.