why can parables be considered more informative than straight forward instructions?

Question

Especially in association with the bible and Jesus

Answer 1

Have you ever heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words?

A parable is a word picture, and thus more understandable.

Answer 2

It has been said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The Lord Jesus frequently used parables as a means of illustrating profound, divine truths. Stories such as these are easily remembered, the characters bold, and the symbolism rich in meaning. Parables were a common form of teaching in Judaism. Before a certain point in His ministry, Jesus had employed many graphic analogies using common things that would be familiar to everyone (salt, bread, sheep, etc.) and their meaning was fairly clear in the context of His teaching.

Answer 3

It was Jesus that used parables, but the question is still there to be answered. Parables have several advantages over straight talk. First, parables convey meaning to words and stories that are more realistic in terms of a persons everyday experience of life, parables are more dynamic in that reality can be understood in more than one way without obvious signs of what the speaker is talking about, and parables are in story form which is much more like ordinary speaking than straight talk which is more like a teaching or learning speech, a rather formal style of speech.
Also, the speaker can be somewhat protected from the eyes and ears of the authority by using parables because on a simple level a parable can be innocent advice while at the same time it can be a code story for a way to freedom in the same language as the authority uses.
The idea of a story within a story is common place to those that are educated to hear them, but for those that are not prepared to hear more than one story at the same time, it is very hard to see or understand the underlying meaning of the story.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan for example is a perfect vehicle to tell a complex and dangerous story to your followers without arousing the suspicion. First, the Samaritan starts with two meanings in the Title. The Good Samaritan on one level is a story about one traveler on the road to Jerusalem finding another traveler who had been robbed and beaten and left to dye along the road but who stops and attends to the wounded and naked man. A good deed, indeed!
But on another level the Good Samaritan is a story of a man traveling on the main road to a better life, symbolized by the path to the Highest City in life Jerusalem, a spiritual journey, the seeking of the purer form of life, a Pilgrim who happens upon another person in severe need of help.
The Samaritan is also a significant person in that the Samaritans at the time were considered lowly people, impure people, but the Bible casts the Samaritan, The Good Samaritan like any other good person minus the prejudice of the time on a pilgrimage to the holy City of Jerusalem.
However the Samaritan finds part of the higher meanings of life in a poor man beaton and naking lying beside the road in need of real help. So the store within a story is that the road to a higher self is in part being on the right path and to be in service to others who are in need, a purpose he may not have anticipated as part of the road to Jerusalem. But when you are going to higher ground, you have your eyes and ears wide open to better see and understand the right path.

Answer 4

I always thought that parables created an opening for mis-interpretation.

When I read the parable of the prodigal son, I learn that being a good boy and following the fathers plan won't get me a party, so I should woop it up with my friends and spend my fathers money on prostitutes and wine. Then when I finally run out of cash and fall on hard times, I can come back home to a big feast.

Parables are the best

Answer 5

The whole point of a parable is that you are putting hard to understand information into a context that people can understand using metaphors. Jesus of Nazareth used parables to try and teach people about God.

Answer 6

With parables in the Bible they apply to real life situations and also can have several meanings unlike straight forward directions.

Answer 7

Parables are visual, and can easily be related to.

Please don't confuse yourself - Jesus taught in many parables, and all these parables were straightforward teachings. Often, Jesus taught parables to his followers because they DIDN'T understand his straightforward message.

Answer 8

words are a poor substitute for expression. With a story you have the chance of understanding how a situation feels and maybe why you should react to it in a certain way.instructions don't give you that chance it is all, "insert tab A into slot B (where is slot B)"

Answer 9

Because in order to fleece the people, you have to tell them one thing when you mean something completely different. Once they think you're credible, you can feed them crap all day and they'll just eat it up with a smile.

Take Jesus' promise to answer all their prayers and do anything they ask. He didn't really mean it. He meant that he would not answer any of their prayers or give them anything that they asked for. They would only get what god wanted them to get. But that doesn't stop them from collecting the fees for prayer answering services.

Answer 10

parables are easier to remember and contain more information more each time than a simple instruction procedure.