PRODIGALS ALL
  • Begin the Encounter
    • Meaning and Application >
      • Encountering the Text >
        • Text of Luke 15.1-3
        • Text of Luke 15.11-12
        • Text of Luke 15.13-19
        • Text of Luke 15.20-24
        • Text of Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Literary Context >
        • New Testament Context >
          • Luke 9-19
          • Luke 15
          • The Gospels >
            • Matthew 21.28-32
            • John 7.53-8.11
            • Luke 19.1-10
          • Epistles >
            • Romans
            • Philemon
        • Old Testament Context >
          • Jacob
          • Psalm 23
          • Jonah
      • Encountering the Cultural Context >
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.1-3 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.1-3
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.11-12 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.11-12
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.13-19 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.13-19
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.20-24 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.20-24
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.25-32 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Theological Meaning >
        • Keller Prodigal God
        • Nouwen Return
        • Theological Meaning >
          • God
          • Christ
        • Early Interpretations >
          • Clement of Alexandria
          • Tertullian
          • Ambrose
          • John Chrysostom
          • Cyril of Alexandria
        • Modern Interpretations >
          • Charles Spurgeon
          • Martin Luther King, Jr.
          • Jerry Falwell
          • Barbara Brown Taylor
        • Buddhist Prodigal
    • Artistic Impact >
      • The Prodigal Son in Painting >
        • Art, Exegesis, and Interpretation
        • Palma 1595
        • Rembrandt 1668
        • Tissot 1880
        • Slevogt 1899
        • Quist 1975
        • He Qi 1996
        • Riojas 2000s >
          • Riojas interpretation
        • Janknegt 2002 >
          • Janknegt interpretation
        • Rabodzeenko 2006
      • The Prodigal Son in Poetry >
        • Christina Rossetti >
          • Rossetti poems
          • Rossetti interpretations
        • Rainer Maria Rilke >
          • Rilke poem
          • Rilke interpretation
        • Kilian McDonnell >
          • McDonnell Poems
          • McDonnell interpretations
        • Leah Goldberg
        • James Weldon Johnson
        • John Newton
        • Edith Nesbit
      • The Prodigal Son in Fiction >
        • Marilynne Robinson
        • Alexander Pushkin >
          • The Stationmaster
        • Rainer Maria Rilke
      • The Prodigal Son in Music >
        • Britten (1968) >
          • Britten Libretto
        • Popular music >
          • Robert Wilkins
          • Rory Block
          • Rolling Stones
          • Josh White
          • Keith Green
      • The Prodigal Son in Film/Drama
      • The Prodigal Son in Dance >
        • Balanchine
  • Meet your Trail Guide
  • A Suggested Path

Early Interpretations 
of the Parable of the Prodigal Son

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           Clement of Alexandria, 150-215

             Clement of Alexandria was a renowned teacher, preacher,  
 and writer, heavily influenced by Hellenistic philosophy.   He 
 taught for many years at a Christian university in Alexandria, 
 Egypt.
        Click here to read Clement's allegorical interpretation of the 
 parable of the prodigal son.

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                    Tertullian, 160-225
     Tertullian was an influential theologian and apologist from Carthage, North Africa.   He is widely considered the "father" of western (Latin) theology.
     Click here to read his reflections on who the prodigal son is--backslidden believer, Jew, or unbeliever--in On Modesty VIII.

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      Ambrose of Milan, 337-397
     Ambrose was a popular imperial governor when he was acclaimed bishop by the people of Milan.   He became an seminal theologian in the 4th century and was a formative influence on Augustine.
     Click here to read his meditation on the three "Lost" parables.

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                   John Chrysostom, 347-407
          
John Chrysostom was a great theologian, preacher, and leader of the early church in Antioch and Constantinople.   His reflection on the parable focuses on the power of repentance.
     Click here to read a selection about the parable of the prodigal son from Exhortation to Theodore after His Fall: Letter 1 (4th century). 
 

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                Cyril of Alexandria, 376-444
     Cyril, having availed himself of an education in the humanities and in theology, was named Patriarch of Alexandria, from which he asserted his influence in the Trinitarian and Christological controversies of the day.

     Click here to read a thoughtful reflection on both sons.
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