Using the word “parable” in its broadest sense (to include word pictures, personifications, similes, metaphors and allegories), it is probably the most common and effective means of both spoken and written communication available. It is the primary tool employed by Jesus when teaching. Actually, there is scarcely any account of anything in Scripture where the parable isn’t used—from the Garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation. And yet orthodox Christianity prides itself on sticking to a literal reading of Scripture whenever possible. Of course there are countless instances where it isn’t possible for even the most literal-minded person to read it thusly.