Balancing Allegory and Example with Theological Clarity in Preaching

Allegory and example function as distinct rhetorical instruments in Christian proclamation, each carrying specific exegetical weight and pastoral purpose. An allegory, as defined in classical terms, involves "a representation of one thing which is intended to excite the representation of another thing," containing both an immediate or historic sense understood from the words themselves and an ultimate sense concerned with the things signified by those words ^[1]. The parable, closely related, is "a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another," with application ranging from the shortest proverbs to dark prophetic utterances and enigmatic maxims ^[2]. Paul's use of the term in Galatians 4:24, where he treats the history of Isaac and Ishmael allegorically, demonstrates that scriptural narrative itself can bear this doubled sense ^[4]. The preacher's task involves discerning when such layered meaning serves theological clarity and when it obscures it.

The Illuminating Purpose of Figurative Speech

Christ's own practice establishes the standard. His parables were not designed to hide truth but to make it more manifest ^[12]. The imagery of a candle placed under a bushel underscores this: the design of preaching is to enlighten, not to mystify ^[12]. Jesus employed "surprising, evocative imagery" in parables like the mustard seed and the leaven, either to emphasize the inevitable growth of the Kingdom through gospel proclamation or to stress the contrast between insignificant beginnings and glorious consummation, exhorting disciples to patience ^[13]. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes modeled this method: "because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, and gave ear, and sought out—he made right many similes" ^[8]. The multiplication of comparisons served pedagogical clarity, not rhetorical ornament for its own sake.

Matthew Henry observes that Christ tried "all ways and methods to do good to the souls of men, and to make impressions upon them," preaching in parables at certain times to keep people attending and expecting, since the time had not yet come for more clear and plain discoveries of the mysteries of the kingdom ^[14]. This suggests a strategic deployment of figurative language calibrated to the audience's readiness and the Spirit's timing. The preacher must therefore ask whether a given allegory or example advances understanding or merely postpones it.

The Danger of Rhetorical Excess

Paul's self-description in 1 Corinthians 2 provides a corrective to the temptation toward eloquence detached from substance. He declared God's testimony "not with excellency of speech, not with arts of rhetoric, used by your own philosophers, where the excellence of the speech recommends the matter, and compensates for the want of solidity and truth" ^[10]. The gospel's supreme excellence dignifies any language by which it is conveyed; it does not require rhetorical embellishment to validate its claims ^[10]. John Gill reinforces this, noting that Paul's speech and preaching avoided "enticing words of man's wisdom; with technical words, words of art, contrived by human wisdom to captivate the affections; and with bare probable arguments only, a show of reason to persuade the mind to an assent, when nothing solid and substantial is a" ^[15]. The sentence breaks off, but the point stands: rhetorical craft must not substitute for theological substance.

This principle bears directly on the use of allegory. When allegory becomes an exercise in ingenuity—finding hidden meanings in every narrative detail—it risks obscuring the plain sense of Scripture and the central claims of the gospel. The preacher who allegorizes the parable of the prodigal son into an elaborate typology of the Trinity, for instance, may dazzle but also distract from the parable's manifest concern with repentance, grace, and the Father's welcome. Matthew Henry's treatment of Luke 16:1 warns against this: "We mistake if we imagine that the design of Christ's doctrine and holy religion was either to amuse us with notions of divine mysteries or to entertain us with notions of divine mercies. No, the divine revelation of both these in the gospel is intended to engage and quicken us to the practice of Christian duties" ^[9]. Allegory that amuses rather than instructs fails its purpose.

The Power of Example

Where allegory interprets narrative symbolically, example interprets it paradigmatically. Christ functions as example throughout the New Testament: in meekness ^[3], in sincerity ^[5], and in diligence ^[6]. The apostolic writers consistently direct believers to imitate Christ's conduct, not merely to decode his actions as symbols of something else. Peter writes that "Christ set an example" of meekness, citing specific texts that describe his behavior ^[3]. This exemplary function does not exclude deeper theological meaning—Christ's meekness reveals the character of God—but it grounds that meaning in concrete, imitable action.

Ministers themselves are called to be examples: of sincerity ^[5], of meekness in instructing opposers ^[3], and of diligence in following every good work ^[6]. The pastoral epistles emphasize this repeatedly. Example operates at a different register than allegory: it assumes that the narrative or teaching describes real action in history that can and should be replicated in the believer's life. The preacher who holds up Christ's washing of the disciples' feet as an example of servanthood makes a different kind of claim than the preacher who allegorizes the foot-washing as a symbol of baptismal cleansing. Both may be legitimate, but they serve different homiletical ends.

Calibrating Clarity to Purpose

The preacher must therefore ask what a given text demands. Some passages invite allegorical reading because they are already figurative: Psalm 80's vine brought out of Egypt, Ecclesiastes 12's allegorical description of old age ^[4]. Others resist it because their force lies in their historical particularity or their direct moral claim. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Henry notes, was intended to make the Pharisees' mockery serious, "by drawing the curtain" between this world and the next ^[11]. Its power lies in its narrative vividness and its eschatological warning, not in a one-to-one correspondence between narrative elements and theological abstractions.

Theological clarity in preaching requires that allegory and example remain servants of the text's own logic. When the psalmist declares, "I will put my teaching into a story; I will make my dark sayings clear with music" ^[7], the figurative mode exists to clarify, not to complicate. The preacher who multiplies allegories without grounding them in the text's plain sense, or who piles up examples without connecting them to the gospel's central claims, risks producing what Paul warned against: speech that captivates affections without conveying solid truth ^[15]. The balance lies in letting Scripture's own use of figure and example govern the sermon's rhetoric, ensuring that every comparison and every paradigm serves the ultimate end of making Christ known and obeyed.

Sources

Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Allegory — a figure of speech, which has been defined by Bishop Marsh, in accordance with its etymology as, "a representation of one thing which is intended to excite the representation of another thing." ("A figurative representation containing a meaning other than and in addition to the literal." "A fable or parable; is a short allegory with one definite moral."--Encyc. Brit.) In every allegory there is a twofold sense--the immediate or historic, which is understood from the words, and the ultimate, which is concerned with the things signified by the words. The alle”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Parable — (The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another.--McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49) sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expand”
Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Meekness — Christ set an example of -- Ps 45:4; Isa 53:7; Mt 11:29; 21:5; 2Co 10:1; 1Pe 2:21-23. His teaching -- Mt 5:38-45. A fruit of the Spirit -- Ga 5:22,23. Saints should Seek. -- Zep 2:3. Put on. -- Col 3:12-13. Receive the word of God with. -- Jas 1:21. Exhibit, in conduct, &c. -- Jas 3:13. Answer for their hope with. -- 1Pe 3:15. Show to all men. -- Tit 3:2. Restore the erring with. -- Ga 6:1. Precious in the sight of God -- 1Pe 3:4. Ministers should Follow after. -- 1Ti 6:11. Instruct opposers with. -- 2Ti 2:24,25. Urge, on their people. -- Tit 3:1,2. A char”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Allegory — Used only in Gal. 4:24, where the apostle refers to the history of Isaac the free-born, and Ishmael the slave-born, and makes use of it allegorically. Every parable is an allegory. Nathan (2 Sam. 12:1-4) addresses David in an allegorical narrative. In the eightieth Psalm there is a beautiful allegory: "Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt," etc. In Eccl. 12:2-6, there is a striking allegorical description of old age.”
Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Sincerity — Christ was an example of -- 1Pe 2:22. Ministers should be examples of -- Tit 2:7. Opposed to fleshly wisdom -- 2Co 1:12. Should characterise Our love to God. -- 2Co 8:8,24. Our love to Christ. -- Eph 6:24. Our service to God. -- Jos 24:14; Joh 4:23,24. Our faith. -- 1Ti 1:5. Our love to one another. -- Ro 12:9; 1Pe 1:22; 1Jo 3:18. Our whole conduct. -- 2Co 1:12. The preaching of the gospel. -- 2Co 2:17; 1Th 2:3-5. A characteristic of the doctrines of the gospel -- 1Pe 2:2. The gospel sometimes preached without -- Php 1:16. The wicked devoid of -- Ps 5:9; ”
Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Diligence — Christ, an example -- Mr 1:35; Lu 2:49. Required by God in Seeking him. -- 1Ch 22:19; Heb 11:6. Obeying him. -- De 6:17; 11:13. Hearkening to him. -- Isa 55:2. Striving after perfection. -- Php 3:13,14. Cultivating Christian graces. -- 2Pe 1:5. Keeping the souls. -- De 4:9. Keeping the heart. -- Pr 4:23. Labours of love. -- Heb 6:10-12. Following every good work. -- 1Ti 5:10. Guarding against defilement. -- Heb 12:15. Seeking to be found spotless. -- 2Pe 3:14. Making our call, &c, sure. -- 2Pe 1:10. Self-examination. -- Ps 77:6. Lawful business. -- Pr 27:”
Psalms “Psalms 49:4 (BBE) — I will put my teaching into a story; I will make my dark sayings clear with music.”
Ecclesiastes “Ecclesiastes 12:9 (YLT) — And further, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, and gave ear, and sought out--he made right many similes.”
Luke (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Luke 16:1: We mistake if we imagine that the design of Christ's doctrine and holy religion was either to amuse us with notions of divine mysteries or to entertain us with notions of divine mercies. No, the divine revelation of both these in the gospel is intended to engage and quicken us to the practice of Christian duties, and, as much as any one thing, to the duty of beneficence and doing good to those who stand in need of any thing that either we have or can do for them. This our Saviour is here pressing us to, by reminding us that we are but stewards of the manifold grace ”
1 Corinthians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 2:1: When I came to you - Acting suitably to my mission, which was to preach the Gospel, but not with human eloquence, Co1 1:17. I declared to you the testimony, the Gospel, of God, not with excellency of speech, not with arts of rhetoric, used by your own philosophers, where the excellence of the speech recommends the matter, and compensates for the want of solidity and truth: on the contrary, the testimony concerning Christ and his salvation is so supremely excellent, as to dignify any kind of language by which it may be conveyed. See the Introduction, Section 2.”
Luke (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Luke 16:19: As the parable of the prodigal son set before us the grace of the gospel, which is encouraging to us all, so this sets before us the wrath to come, and is designed for our awakening; and very fast asleep those are in sin that will not be awakened by it. The Pharisees made a jest of Christ's sermon against worldliness; now this parable was intended to make those mockers serious. The tendency of the gospel of Christ is both to reconcile us to poverty and affliction and to arm us against temptations to worldliness and sensuality. Now this parable, by drawing the curta”
Mark (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Mark 4:21: Is a candle - put under a bushel! - The design of my preaching is to enlighten men; my parables not being designed to hide the truth, but to make it more manifest.”
Matthew (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Matthew 13:31: 13:31-33 Jesus used surprising, evocative imagery in these parables, either to emphasize the inevitable growth of the Kingdom through proclamation of the gospel or, more probably, to emphasize the contrast between insignificant beginnings and glorious consummation, and to exhort the disciples to patience (see also 16:24–17:13).”
Matthew (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Matthew 13:24: In these verses, we have, I. Another reason given why Christ preached by parables, Mat 13:34, Mat 13:35. All these things he spoke in parables, because the time was not yet come for the more clear and plain discoveries of the mysteries of the kingdom. Christ, to keep the people attending and expecting, preached in parables, and without a parable spake he not unto them; namely, at this time and in this sermon. Note, Christ tries all ways and methods to do good to the souls of men, and to make impressions upon them; if men will not be instructed and influenced by ”
1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 2:4: And my speech, and my preaching,.... As he determined, so he acted. As the subject matter of his ministry was not any of the liberal arts and sciences, or the philosophy and dry morality of the Gentiles, but salvation by a crucified Christ; so his style, his diction, his language used in preaching, was not with enticing words of man's wisdom; with technical words, words of art, contrived by human wisdom to captivate the affections; and with bare probable arguments only, a show of reason to persuade the mind to an assent, when nothing solid and substantial is a”

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