His years of living, researching, and teaching in the Middle East convince him that “the most profound theology in scripture comes out in story—Psalm 23, parables of the Good Shepherd and/or prodigal son….” The book abruptly stops after the Parable of the Vineyard. No concluding chapter or paragraph to tie it altogether because, sadly, this is less a book than a collection of essays stitched loosely together by a few recurrent themes. Bailey has a gift of clear, lively expression; he takes advantage of his personal experiences, interest in Hebrew poetic structure, and knowledge of Arabic to bring insights into NT interpretation." To turn away a descendant of David in ‘the City of David’ would be an unspeakable shame on the entire village,” Bailey writes in Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. Bailey says we often don’t see that “the way we reason and what becomes reasonable for us is influenced by our language, culture, history, tradition, economic system, and our military. That’s the sieve through which we perceive the world and come up with what is reasonable. But somebody halfway around the world processes the same data and comes up with a different conclusion.”

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural [PDF] [EPUB] Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural

Metaphorical theology creates meaning through story, symbol, and metaphor. And then you can extract ideas from it. Beginning with Jesus’ birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus’; relationship to women, and especially Jesus’ parables. Kenneth E. Bailey (1930–2016) was an acclaimed author and lecturer in Middle Eastern New Testament studies. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he served as canon theologian of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. The author of more than 150 articles in English and in Arabic, his writings include Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, The Good Shepherd, Open Hearts in Bethlehem (A Christmas Musical), and The Cross and the Prodigal. Imagine a book about the American Founding Fathers that starts: "Jefferson wrote the Declaration as a Virginian. I have lived in Richmond since 1970 and so, as someone familiar with Virginians, let me explain what he meant by all men being created equal..." It would strike the reader as absurd.But Bailey is not just a just telling you nifty insights -"Jesus wasn't born in a stable, but a house"- to impress your friends at parties. Bailey is teaching you how to read the Gospels.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - InterVarsity Press Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - InterVarsity Press

Middle Eastern cultures have valued family and hospitality for millennia. When Caesar Augustus decreed that people had to register for the census in their hometown, Joseph went to Bethlehem “because he belonged to the house and line of David” (Luke 2:4).Writing of Jesus’ birth, Bailey notes that many Westerns have supposed that Mary and Joseph were turned away from an “inn.” But the word in Luke 2:7 is katavluma, that is, a guest room in a house, not a commercial inn. For the latter the word would have been pandocei'on. “Jesus was placed in a manger (in the family room) because in that home the guest room was already full” (p. 32). Bailey adds that many have erroneously supposed Jesus was born in a cave or a stable, a tradition that started with Justin Martyr (p. 34). Like the shepherds, who came to see the baby Jesus, He was poor, lonely, and rejected. “Jesus was born in a simple, two-room village home such as the Middle East has known for at least three thousand years” (p. 36).