Parable

A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whereas parables have human characters. A parable 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 the canonical narratives and the apocrypha.

Etymology

The word parable comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē), meaning "comparison, illustration, analogy." It was the name given by Greek rhetoricians to an illustration in the form of a brief fictional narrative.

History

Parables are often used to explore ethical concepts in spiritual texts. The Bible contains numerous parables in the gospels section of the New Testament (Jesus' parables). These are believed by some scholars (such as John P. Meier) to have been inspired by mashalim, a form of Hebrew comparison. Examples of Jesus' parables include the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Mashalim from the Old Testament include the parable of the ewe-lamb (told by Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:1-9) and the parable of the woman of Tekoah (in Samuel 14:1-13 ).

Parable (film)

Parable is a 1964 American short Christian film written and directed by Rolf Forsberg, made for the Lutheran Council and became popular when first screened at the 1964 New York World's Fair in 1964, and again in 1965 at the Protestant Pavilion. The film depicts Christ as a clown and the world as a circus and is considered both a revolutionary Christian film and one which proved to be influential.

In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

The film Parable is presented through action and music alone and has no dialogue. It tells the story of handful of people working in an old fashioned circus under the rule of Magnus, a puppeteer who strings up human beings as living marionettes and controls their every move. Christ (Clarence Mitchell) is represented as a clown dressed in white, riding atop a donkey. The clown travels around the circus helping people with their problems and gaining followers until he finally takes the place of Magnus's human puppets and is strung up and murdered. Transformed by the clown's sacrifice, Magnus smears his face with white greasepaint and takes the clown's place on the donkey as Christ resurrected.