The parables of Jesus have come down to us through the centuries in altered form, their true meaning hidden beneath layers of translation and interpretation. Here a celebrated biblical scholar peels away these layers, returning to the oldest discoverable form in which Jesus told the parables. In doing so he paves the way to a closer approach to the authentic words of Jesus. Professor Jeremias recreates the historical situations that prompted Jesus to devise the parables. He also demonstrates how the early Christians interpreted and embroidered the parables in order to relate them to their own circumstances. An abridgment of The Parables of Jesus, the author's landmark work in contemporary theology, Rediscovering the Parables omits only the purely technical apparatus. It thus brings the brilliant insights of Joachim Jeremias within reach of the layman as well as the minister and student.