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A '''parable''' is a brief, succinct story, in [[prose]] or [[verse]], that illustrates a [[moral]] or [[religious]] lesson. It differs from a '''[[fable]]''' in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of [[nature]] as characters, while parables generally feature [[human]] [[character]]s.  

A '''parable''' is a brief, succinct story, in [[prose]] or [[verse]], that illustrates a [[moral]] or [[religious]] lesson. It differs from a '''[[fable]]''' in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of [[nature]] as characters, while parables generally feature [[human]] [[character]]s.  

Some scholars of 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 "Parable of the Prodigal Son" are central to [[Jesus]]' teaching method in both  the [[canonical]] and [[apocrypha]]l narratives.

Some scholars of 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 "Parable of the Prodigal Son" are central to [[Jesus]]' teaching method in both  the [[canonical]] and [[apocrypha]]l narratives.

==Characteristics==

==Characteristics==

The word "parable" comes from the Greek "''παραβολή''" (''parabolē''), the name given by [[Greek]] [[Rhetoric|rhetorician]]s to any fictive illustration in the form of a brief narrative. Later it came to mean a fictitious [[narrative]], generally referring to something that might naturally occur, by which [[spiritual]] and [[moral]] matters might be conveyed.

The word "parable" comes from the Greek "''παραβολή''" (''parabolē''), the name given by [[Greek]] [[Rhetoric|rhetorician]]s to any fictive illustration in the form of a brief narrative. Later it came to mean a fictitious [[narrative]], generally referring to something that might naturally occur, by which [[spiritual]] and [[moral]] matters might be conveyed.