Emphasis Preaching Journal

There is debate over whether Jesus used parables to conceal or to reveal the truth. Whichever is the case, our Lord knew that parables provide entree when direct discourse sometimes cannot. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, nineteenth century British poet and philosopher, once used the same device to good effect. He was locked in debate with a protagonist who insisted that children should not be given any formal religious instruction of any kind. Argued the gentleman, this would enable youngsters to make their own choices when they reached the age of discretion.