About

About This Site

This site exists to make the scholarly work of Dr. Kenneth Bailey accessible to anyone carrying anger at God.

Dr. Bailey lived and taught in the Middle East for 40 years. His research into the cultural and linguistic context of Jesus’ parables reveals layers of meaning invisible to Western readers.

I bring two original contributions to prodigal son scholarship:

1. The Deuteronomy 21 flip — Moses says the father takes the rebellious son to the gate to be stoned. Jesus tells a story where the father runs to the rebellious son at the gate and embraces him. Not a continuation — a reversal.

2. Paul as the older brother — The Apostle Paul, the self-described “Pharisee of Pharisees,” is the older brother of the parable brought to life. Jesus didn’t just teach grace in a story — he lived it with the angriest man in the New Testament.