A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Parable: The Steward, Tricksters and (Non)sense in Luke 16:1–8

Title: A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Parable: The Steward, Tricksters and (Non)sense in Luke 16:1–8
Creator: King, Fergus J.
Relation: Biblical Theology Bulletin Vol. 48, Issue 1, p. 18-25
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146107917746578
Publisher: SAGE Publishing
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2018
Description: The parable of the Steward (Luke 16:1–8) has long vexed interpreters. Central to its difficulty is how the behaviour of a steward identified variously as “dishonest” or “unjust” can stand as an exemplary figure. Previous attempts to resolve this issue have included studies which have identified the Steward as a slave, and compared him to figures who appear in literary studies (the Trickster) and the Comedy of the ancient world (the servus fallax or callidus). However, these have failed to realize fully the moral ambiguity offered by these literary types. When set in the fictive world of moral ambiguity and subversion that they represent, it becomes easier to see how the Steward, with all the subversion he brings, becomes an exemplary model of discipleship. His financial chicanery will mirror the unorthodoxy of reconciliation that is lived out by Jesus of Nazareth.
Subject: Trickster; Gospel of Luke; New Comedy; Plautus; Parable of the Unjust Steward
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1446347
Identifier: uon:42838
Identifier: ISSN:0146-1079
Language: eng
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