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I. INTRODUCTION The discovery in 1945 of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas among the codices found at Nag Hammadi ignited a controversy about Thomas's relation to the Synoptic Gospels that [...]

The parable of the unjust steward is widely considered the most puzzling of Jesus' teachings. Although a seemingly endless string of interpretations continues to appear in print, no single reading [...]

The nine 'servant parables' in the Gospels can be interpreted through knowledge of ancient slavery and Greco-Roman literature because the translation from Greek to 'servant' would be more accurately 'slave.' These parables have often poised problems of interpretation but literary and historical sources about slavery at that time may produce a more logical interpretation. Based on these sources, rather than attacking slavery as an institution, the parables attempt to dignify the slaves, which for the time was a radical social reform.

A new interpretation of the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-8a) is presented.