Using Extrabiblical Examples in Preaching and Teaching Biblically
Scripture itself employs extrabiblical examples throughout its teaching. The prophets drew on natural phenomena, historical events, and everyday life to illustrate spiritual truth. Jesus used parables—comparisons drawn from agriculture, commerce, and domestic life—to convey kingdom realities [2]. The apostles likewise referenced contemporary culture, athletic contests, and military imagery to clarify doctrine. This biblical precedent establishes that teaching may legitimately draw on material outside the canon when it serves to illuminate scriptural truth.
The Pattern of Christ and the Apostles
Christ set the pattern for using examples in teaching [1, 3, 4]. His parables placed spiritual truths beside familiar situations to create understanding [2]. The apostles followed this model: Paul referenced Greek poets, athletic games, and Roman military practice. Peter used the example of the prophets' suffering to encourage perseverance [1]. James pointed to Job's patience and the prophets' affliction as concrete instances of endurance under trial [1, 6]. These examples functioned not as independent authorities but as illustrations that clarified and applied biblical principles.
The Function of Examples in Ministry
Examples serve multiple purposes in biblical teaching. They provide concrete instances of abstract principles, making doctrine accessible. When Paul instructs Timothy to be an example to believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity [1], he establishes that lived reality reinforces verbal instruction. Pastors are to be examples to their flocks [1], demonstrating that teaching involves both word and pattern. The danger lies not in using examples but in substituting them for Scripture or allowing them to obscure the text's authority.
Boundaries and Cautions
The biblical use of extrabiblical material maintains clear boundaries. Examples must serve the text, not replace it. When John Gill comments on Ezekiel's vision, he notes that ministers' lives should be examples to churches "in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" [7]—a standard drawn from Scripture itself. The preacher's task remains "preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ" [5]. Illustrations drawn from history, science, or contemporary life function properly when they clarify biblical truth without importing foreign authority into the exposition. The example illuminates; the text governs.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Example — Of Christ (1 Pet. 2:21; John 13:15); of pastors to their flocks (Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12; 1 Pet. 5:3); of the Jews as a warning (Heb. 4:11); of the prophets as suffering affliction (James 5:10).”
- 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: 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: Self-Denial — Christ set an example of -- Mt 4:8-10; 8:20; Joh 6:38; Ro 15:3; Php 2:6-8. A test of devotedness to Christ -- Mt 10:37,38; Lu 9:23,24. Necessary In following Christ. -- Lu 14:27-33. In the warfare of saints. -- 2Ti 2:4. To the triumph of saints. -- 1Co 9:25-27. Ministers especially called to exercise -- 2Co 6:4,5. Should be exercised in Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. -- Ro 6:12; Tit 2:12. Controlling the appetite. -- Pr 23:2. Abstaining from fleshly lusts. -- 1Pe 2:11. No longer living to lusts of men. -- 1Pe 4:2. Mortifying sinful lusts. -- Mr ”
- Acts “preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance. -- Acts 28:31”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “James 5:11 cross-references: Exodus 34:6, Numbers 14:18, 1 Chronicles 21:13, 2 Chronicles 30:9, Nehemiah 9:17, Nehemiah 9:31, Job 1:2, Job 1:21, Job 2:10, Job 13:15, Job 23:10, Job 42:10, Psalms 25:6, Psalms 37:37, Psalms 51:1, Psalms 78:38, Psalms 86:5, Psalms 86:15, Psalms 94:12, Psalms 103:8, Psalms 103:13, Psalms 116:5, Psalms 119:132, Psalms 136:1, Psalms 145:8, Ecclesiastes 7:8, Isaiah 55:6, Isaiah 63:7, Isaiah 63:9, Lamentations 3:22, Daniel 9:9, Daniel 9:18, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Micah 7:18, Matthew 5:10, Matthew 10:22, Luke 1:50, Luke 6:36, Luke 11:10, Romans 2:4, Ephesians 1:6, Ephes”
- Ezekiel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ezekiel 1:19: And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them,.... When the ministers of the Gospel begin the worship of God, and move in acts of devotion, the churches join with them; see Rev 4:9; and in their lives and conversations they are examples to them; and churches and members ought to walk as they have them, for an example in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up; when the ministers of the word have their affections raised, and are in lively f”