Stories for the Waiting Room
"Stories for the Waiting Room" examines the existential value of Jesus' parables for living in today's complex society. The podcast's host, Dr. Mark A. Proctor, holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Baylor University with an emphasis in New Testament Studies. Dr. Proctor has published a handful of scholarly articles on the parables, and their content has provided meaningful subject matter for his graduate and undergraduate courses. "Stories for the Waiting Room" examines the parables in light of their first-century cultural milieu with an eye toward applying their timeless content and challenges to our own contemporary context.
Stories for the Waiting Room
The Fifth “W:” Mark 4:10-13
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Dr. Mark A. Proctor
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Season 2
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Episode 1
Who? What? When? Where? Why? In season two's first episode, Lee and Dr. Mark address a very important question: Why did Jesus speak in parables? In order to provide an answer, they examine a critical passage scholars commonly refer to as a the "Parables Theory:" Mark 4:10-13. While nearly all versions of the Bible translate the first word in the Greek text of v. 12 with the English gloss "so that" or "in order that," Dr. Mark explains why doing so is problematic. He then offers an alternative approach to the verse that allows for understanding Jesus' parables as readily accessible heuristic devices that facilitate public learning by making his deeply existential topics comprehensible for everyone.