The statistical trend toward an increasing number of early marriages in the United states is causing concern for parents and community officials (21) . The average age of marriage has been declining since 1890. Half of the girls are now married by the time they are twenty and half of the men by the time they are twenty- three (13) . In a study made by Landis (20) of marriages in California high schools, 90 percent of the senior high schools reported one or more student marriages. Similar statistics have been retorted in New Mexico (16) and Oregon (18) . Research has pointed an accusing finger at youthful marriage as a primary factor in the rampant divorce situation, and there is little question but that lack of the competencies which come with the maturing process are a source of marital friction and breakdown.

The purpose of this master's thesis is to explore how priests interpret the parables in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark using a hermeneutic qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews. The aim is to shed light on a selected group of priests in their roles within the context of the Church of Sweden, where interpretation is a part of their work, primarily focusing on the parables in the fourth chapter of Mark's Gospel and how this is done in interpretation, both in encounters with individuals and in preaching. An inductive approach has influenced the study, which also permeates the qualitative method with a focus on creating understanding to gain knowledge about the nature of these various phenomena among four priests. Generalization is not possible due to the small number of informants for making overall generalizations. Nor is it what has been sought. The aim of qualitative research is to gain a deeper understanding of a phenomenon and to illuminate how individuals experience it in their context. The study aims to understand how a specifically selected group of individuals, namely priests who have worked for an extended period within the Swedish Church, interpret the parables in Gospel of Mark.