Part II. C A N 0 N S o F P A R A B L E S. \Ve define or defcribe a Parable thus: A Parable is a Similitude or Comparifon, by which fome certain Ajjair or 'fhing is feigned, and told, as if it were really tranfacted, and is compared with fome JPirllual'fhing, or is accommodated to jignify it. A P..rable differs from an Hi!lory, ( 1.) with relpdt to the ObjeCt: F,or Hi£l:ory is a Narrative of Things really done; but a Parable only cf a I hing feigned, and adapted to infhuc1, which yet is not a Lie, as Augu.ftiue well fays, lib. 2. ~t£jl. Evang. q. 4'• Non omne quod fingimus l&ndacimn efl, fed quando id jngimus quod nihil jignificat, tunc e.ft lvfmdacium. Cum autem Fiflio no.ftra refortur ad aliquam Sigm.fiwttonem, non efl Mm– .dacium, fed aliqua Figura Veritatis. Alioquin omnia, qu" a Japientibus et fanflis Viris, vel etiam ab ipjo Domino figurate dicta funt, Mendacia deputabuntur, quia Jecundum rijita– Jum inte!leflmn non Jubji.ftit Veritas in talibus diflis. Hence l·lorace fays, Fifla Voluptatis Caufii Junt proxima veris. And if Fables, accommodated to teach or infhu cr, are not Lies, much lets are Parables. 2. They differ with Refpecr to Ufe: Af! Hijfory gives you a plain fimp!e Narrative, A Parable does not only tell a Thing as if really done, but has withal fome Reference to fome other Thing in order to in(trua, either implicitly or explicitly. A Parable differs from an Example, which the Greeks call "'apoJ"'YI""'· For an Ex– ample is but Part of an Hifl:ory, when a Thing, rightly done, is defended or jufl:ified from l nfl:ances or Practice of the like Thin!': done before: Or when a Thing ill done is demonfl:rated by a like Example. Thus Chrift excufes hi' ApofHes when accufed for p lucking the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath, Matt. xii. by the Example of David's eat– ing the Shew-bread, 1 Sam. xxi. 6. compare lvlatt. xii. 41, 42 . Luke xiv. 1, &c. and x. 29, 30, &c. where you have the Parable of him that fell among the '(/Jieves. See alfo Luke xvi. 1 9· the Parable of the rich Jvlan and Lazarus, &c. The Divifion of Parables is thus. In a Parable there are two Parts. The firfl is the Thing brought as a Similitude: The fecond is the Application of that Thing, which is, as it were, the Marrow, Kernel or nzyflical Senfe of it. In Scripture we find three Sorts of Parables. ( t.) Some relate a Thing done and produced as a Similitllde, as the Parabk of the Leaven. (2.) Some relate to a.Thing not done, but of which there may be a Pof!ibility or Probability; as the Parable of the Houjholder, Matt. xx. {3·1 Others relate to a Thing impoffible; as when the T1ees wmt to anoint (or choofe) Jhemfelws a King, Judg. ix. 8. More Examples of Parables read in Matt. xiii. j, &c. Luke "iii. 4, &c. Jvlatt. • xxii . 2, &c. refpecring the fourfold Seed ;-the 'fares ;-and Marriage of t/.:'1: Ki 11 g's lion. Mark xiii. 34· 'fhe Man taking a Jar Journey. cAN 0 N s OF PAR ABLE S. I. pARABLES are more frequently ufed in the New than in the Old Tefl:ament. In the Old Teftament are thefe Parables, Judg. ix. 8. applied Ver. 16. 2 Sam. xii. r. The Parable of Natha11 to David, lfa. v. 1. The Parable of the Vi11eyard expounded,. Ver. 7· Ezek. xvii. 2, &c. The Parable of the two Eagles explained, Ver. 12. Ezek. xxxiii. 2. Of the Watchman, applied to the Prophet, Ver. 7· In the New T efl:ament are thefe Parables, Matt. xiii. 3, &c. Mark iv. 3, &c. Luke viii. 4, &c. Matt. xiii. 24, &c. Mark iv. 26, &c. Matt. xiii. 31. Mark iv. 30. Luke xiii. 18, 19. M att. xiii. 33· Luke xiii. 21. Matt. xiii. 44, 45, 46, 47· and xvi:i. 23. Luke vii. 4 '· John x. r. Luke xii. r6, 42. Matt . xxrv. 45· Mark xiii. 34· Lukexiii. 6• .and x[•. t6. Matt. xviii. 12. L uke xv. 4, 8, JI, xvi. 1. and xviii. 2. Matt.xx. 1. Luke xix. r 1. Matt . xxi. 28, 33· xxii. 2. and xxv. 1, 14, &c. Il. Chrift with good Reafon ufed a parabolical Way of Preaching:-Thefe .Reafons partly concern God, viz. a fulfilling of the Scripture, as Matt. xiii. 34, 35· with Pjal. lxxviii. 'l, Or, fecondly, Men, who are teachable and godly, ( 1.) For their In– formation, Mark iv. 33· John iri. 1 2. (2.) To excite and fl:ir up a Fervor in them of being taught, as Matt. xiii. 9· Mark iv. 9· Luke viii. 7· See Matt. xiii. 10. Mark iv. 10. Sometimes they are ufed to flubborn and unteachable Men, who defpife the Word, to ic£orm rhem, flir theri1 up (perufe Matt. xiii. 9· with Pfal. xlviii. 2 'fim. ii. 25.) to I ~~
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