Duke Divinity School Professor Richard Lischer's book, Reading the Parables, has been named one of the Top 10 Books for Parish Ministry published in 2014 by the Academy of Parish Clergy, an international organization of clergy serving in faith communities.

Westminster John Knox Press published the book in its new Interpretation series on resources for the use of Scripture in the church. Divinity School Dean Richard Hays is the editor of New Testament volumes in the series.

The parables make up one third of Jesus’ speech in the New Testament. In his book, Lischer emphasizes the importance of reading the parables in as many contexts as possible. He argues that reading offers breathing space to explore the literary and socio-political significance of the parables, as compared to interpretation, which has come to imply an expert and fixed position that must be defended. 

Lischer, the James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor of Preaching at the Divinity School, joined the faculty in 1979 and has taught courses on preaching and the parables of Jesus for many years.