Editing Parable (section)

==Parables of Jesus==
{{Main article|Parables of Jesus}}
[[Middle Ages|Medieval]] interpreters of the Bible often treated [[Jesus]]' parables as allegories, with symbolic [[correspondence (theology)|correspondence]]s found for every element in his parables. But modern scholars, beginning with [[Adolf Jülicher]], regard their interpretations as incorrect.<ref name="Die Gleichnisreden Jesu">Adolf Jülicher, ''Die Gleichnisreden Jesu'' (2 vols; Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1888, 1899).</ref> Jülicher viewed some of Jesus' parables as similitudes (extended similes or metaphors) with three parts: a picture part (''Bildhälfte''), a reality part (''Sachhälfte''), and a ''[[tertium comparationis]]''. Jülicher held that Jesus' parables are intended to make a single important point.<ref name="A Marginal Jew"/>

[[Gnosticism|Gnostics]] suggested that Jesus kept some of his teachings secret within the circle of his disciples and that he deliberately obscured their meaning by using parables. For example, in [[Gospel of Mark|Mark 4:11–12]]:

{{Quotation|And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the [[kingdom of God]], but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that 'they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be [[Forgiveness|forgiven]].'" ([[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]])}}

The idea that coded meanings in parables would only become apparent when a listener had been given additional information or initiated into a higher set of teachings is supported by ''[[Epistle of Barnabas|The Epistle of Barnabas]],'' reliably dated between AD 70 to 132:  <blockquote>For if I should write to you concerning things immediate or future, ye would not understand them, because they are put in parables. So much then for this.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Epistle of Barnabas (translation J.B. Lightfoot)|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lightfoot.html|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.earlychristianwritings.com}}</ref> </blockquote>
Another important component of the parables of Jesus is their participatory and spontaneous quality. Often, but not always, Jesus creates a parable in response to a question from his listeners or an argument between two opposing views. 

To the educated [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] audience, Jesus’ use of parables was reminiscent of many famous oratory styles like the [[Socratic method]]. As a literary work, the [[Development of the New Testament canon|Gospel authorship]] depict the various groups that question Jesus about his teachings, to the role an interlocutor has in the [[Socratic dialogue|Socratic Dialogues]] of [[Plato]].

Similarly, the rhetorical style of the [[Roman Senate|Roman Senator]] and lawyer [[Cicero]] (which remained highly regarded after his death by many famous orators<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plutarch's Lives (Clough)/Life of Cicero - Wikisource, the free online library |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Plutarch%27s_Lives_(Clough)/Life_of_Cicero |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=en.wikisource.org |language=en}}</ref>) was known for its use of a seemingly unrelated [[anecdote]] that demonstrates in its conclusion some insight pertaining to the current topic of the discussion.