This examination of forty of Jesus' parables traces their origins to prototypes in early Jewish folklore. The author finds in a wide-ranging review of world literature similar themes in the work of Dostoievski, Kafka, Tolstoy, Alberto Moravia, Isaac Bashevis Singer and others. He relates these themes not only to the concerns of the earliest Christian communities but also to the modern crisis of belief and contemporary religious problems. The message is luminously presented and previously obscure passages are brought vividly to life.