Dictionary of all Scriptures & Myths

PARABLE 

A symbolic narrative of comparison, to illustrate the laws of the inner world by the laws of the outer.

"I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old." - Ps. lxxviii. 2.

The expression of the inner nature shall appear in the outer, and under scriptural narratives there shall be revealed the hidden wisdom of the soul.

"It is clear, therefore, that if Hebrew history is to be read as our Lord and His Apostles teach us that it ought to be read, it must not be regarded (as too many regard it) merely as a literal recital of facts, but as also a typical representation of spiritual truths. Hebrew History, as written by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, is a divine Parable." - WORDSWORTH, Bible, Psalms, p. 122.

"It is almost singular that the identification of the Laws of the Spiritual World with the Laws of Nature should so long have escaped recognition. For apart from the probability on à priori grounds, it is involved in the whole structure of Parable. When any two phenomena in the two spheres are seen to be analogous, the parallelism must depend upon the fact that the Laws governing them are not analogous but identical." - H. DRUMMOND, Natural Law, etc., p. 52.

"Unto you is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables." - Mark iv. 11.

"In other words, all material things are symbols, sacraments, of eternal and spiritual facts, and what needs to be done with human beings is to awaken them to an immediate knowledge of those facts. . . . The visible world was so real to the people that the invisible could not make much appeal; they could not see in the one a parable of the other, a material representation of a spiritual reality, a mystery which could not be fully revealed to mortal flesh, but which could be immediately known nevertheless. . . . The most real thing in our experience is just that which cannot be rationalised; it is felt and known but not explained; it is mystery. When we are most aware of it is when we are at our best, when thoughts and feelings are most elevated, when desire and will are both thrown on the side of what we perceive to be highest and holiest; it is then that the supernatural breaks through and lays hold of us." - R. J. CAMPBELL, Serm., The Mystery of the Heavenly Kingdom.

See Also

Ass AND COLT
EXODUS
HOUSEHOLDER
LAZARUS
LEAVEN
MYTHOLOGY
PEARL
PRODIGAL
REAPING
SEED (good)
SICKLE
SIGN
VINEYARD
VIRGINS (ten)
WEDDING