A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or (sometimes) a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters. It is a type of analogy.
Some scholars of the Canonical gospels and the New Testament apply the term "parable" only to the parables of Jesus, though that is not a common restriction of the term. Parables such as "The Prodigal Son" are central to Jesus' teaching method in both the canonical narratives and the apocrypha.
The defining characteristic of the parable is the presence of a prescriptive subtext suggesting how a person should behave or believe. Aside from providing guidance and suggestions for proper action in life, parables frequently use metaphorical language which allows people to more easily discuss difficult or complex ideas. Parables teach an abstract argument, using a concrete narrative which is more easily grasped. Jülicher held that Jesus' parables usually are intended to make a single important point, and most recent scholarship agrees. However, "extended metaphor" is not in itself a sufficient description of parable; the characteristics of an extended metaphor are shared by many narrative types, including the allegory, the fable and the apologue.
Similarly, a parable also resembles a simile, i.e. a metaphorical construction in which something is said to be "like" something else (e.g. "The just man is like a tree panted by streams of water"). However, unlike a simile, a parable's parallel meaning is unspoken and implicit, though not ordinarily secret.
In Sufi tradition, parables ("teaching stories") are used for imparting lessons and values. Recent authors such as Idries Shah and Anthony de Mello have helped popularize these stories beyond Sufi circles.
Modern stories can be used as parables. A mid-19th-century parable, the "Parable of the Broken Window", exposes a fallacy in economic thinking.
See also:
Category:Rhetoric Category:Literary devices Category:Persuasion techniques Category:Christian genres Category:Spirituality Category:Fiction Category:Folklore Category:Greek loanwords
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