David B. Gowler

David B. Gowler is the Pierce Chair of Religion at Oxford College of Emory University and senior faculty fellow, Center for Ethics, Emory University. He is the author of several books; dozens of articles, book chapters, and book reviews; and is the editor or coeditor of over 30 books. His books on the parables include What are They Saying about the the Parables?, The Parables after Jesus, Howard Thurman: Sermons on the Parables. His current book project is about Howard Thurman and the parables, What Do Parables Want (Paulist Press).

By this Author

Detail from "The Prodigal Son Among the Pigs" (1496) by Albrecht Dürer (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

What can Renaissance art and Howard Thurman tell us about the prodigal son?

Insights about Jesus' parable from the great theologian Howard Thurman can enhance our appreciation of Dürer's "The Prodigal Son Among the Pigs" and the spiritual journey it can evoke.

A portion of "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" by Johannes Vermeer circa 1665 (Wikimedia Commons/Google Cultural Institute)

Sit and listen; go and do: Mary and Martha as examples of faith and action

The story of Mary and Martha reminds us that we must sit and listen at the feet of Jesus before we go and do. Only then can we have the renewed strength, courage and wisdom for that journey.

Painting urges viewers to speak and act as Jesus did in an inhumane world

Max Beckmann's 1917 painting "Christ and the Sinner" can be read as a call to speak and act as Jesus did: putting ourselves in the role of Jesus in these stories.

Some scholars wrongly title this Rembrandt painting "The Parable of the Rich Fool," based on Luke 12:16-20. It is "The Money Changer" (Der Geldwechsler). (Wikimedia Commons/The University of Leipzig)

Rembrandt's technique sheds light on how parables work

Like Rembrandt's paintings, the parables of Jesus illuminates some things as clear as day. Other aspects become clearer as we learn more and more about the first-century contexts of Jesus and his followers. 

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, a human rights activist and artist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, stands with Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina in an undated photo. (Dreamstime/Elultimodeseo)

Artist illuminates Jesus' radical message in the Way of the Cross

Art: Adolfo Pérez Esquivel's "Stations of the Cross" paintings espouse Jesus' program of liberation in their images of oppression in Latin America, showing us how to bridge the gap between Jesus' era and our own.

Detail from Domenico Fetti's "The Parable of the Mote and Beam," based on Jesus' admonition in Luke 6:41-42 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

'The Mote and the Beam' gives insight into COVID-19 debates

Commentary: Jesus' humorous yet serious warning can be hard to heed as this pandemic is prolonged. It seems the "beams" are in other people's eyes, not ours, and they are blind to both the danger and the solutions.

Detail from "The Unjust Judge and the Importunate Widow" (1864), created by John Everett Millais, engraved and printed by the Dalziel Brothers (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

'Good trouble': What we see in Jesus' parable of the persistent widow

Art: John Everett Millais' "The Unjust Judge and the Importunate Widow" is almost as intriguing as Jesus' parable on which the image is based: A persistent widow unrelentingly demands justice — just as we should.

"The Good Samaritan," etching by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Hope and despair in Rembrandt's 'The Good Samaritan'

Review: Interpretations of Rembrandt's etching of "The Good Samaritan" shed light on divergent yet interlocking ways in which human beings respond to difficult circumstances. One response is founded on hope.

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