For anyone who is interested in left wing/historical materialist inroads to discuss Christianity, i have been reading a physical copy of Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed William R Herzog that i found in a used bookstore.

I cannot recommend it enough, it goes into various aspects of ancient Palestinian history from the worth of a talent to the treatment of day laborers by landowners' hired help, to the proportion of people within various classes in the time period discussed. It directly compares Jesus to Paolo Freire, specifically the period of time where Freire was targeted by the government for the results of his educational methods.

It takes a lot of the unpalatable and paternalistic metaphorical readings of the kingdom of heaven as a place run by a tyrant, and recontextualizes the stories as being about a real time and place where people lived and struggled.

context- I am an ex Catholic turned transsexual communist, and while I may not follow the tenets of the Church anymore and have resentment for the harm it did to me and countless others, I recognize that it has provided comfort and can be a difficult framework to negotiate with. I'm sharing this less as "see, the Church is cool after all!!" and more "if you have the patience to actually sit down and talk to people, this may be a useful reference."

reposted from news megathread, per a suggestion in a reply.