A prophet of old: Jesus the ‘public theologian’

Abstract

In this article the argument is put forward that Jesus’ parables portray him as a social prophet, as many of the issues addressed by Old Testament prophets (such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea) are common themes in Jesus’ parables. As proof for and further elaboration on the abovementioned argument, two of these themes from Jesus’ parables, religious inclusivity and social injustice, are discussed. It is concluded that if public theology is understood as public theologians doing theology in public, Jesus was a ‘public theologian’ par excellence.

Keywords

• parables
• historical Jesus
• social prophet
• social justice
• Amos
• Hosea