Many Christians are willing to admit that at least parts of the Bible are allegory, but I have never seen any atheist make any serious attempt to decipher that allegory. Perhaps it is thought an impossible task, but at the very least someone should make an effort to see where it can lead.
The indications of allegory are numerous. For example, the well-known “error” found in Matthew 27:9 in which the prophet Jeremiah seems to be credited with a quote from Zechariah:
Matthew 27:9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."
The number “thirty” occurs only once in the entire book of Jeremiah- Jeremiah 38:10 which reads:
“Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, ‘Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.’"
Note that Jeremiah “hangs” himself just as Judas had done. What are the chances that a carefully preserved error would accidently create an allusion to another hanging?
What about the fact that the Jewish historian Josephus claimed to have received what appeared to witnesses as a mortal head wound during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70CE (Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 13, paragraph 3); wouldn’t you suspect a link to the “Beast” of Revelation (Revelation 13:3)?
Answers & Comments
You Christians need to get your story straight, and your heads screwed on properly. Some Christians claim it's all allegory. Some claim it's all literal. Some claim that it's part literal and part allegory, but can't agree on which parts are which.
"Atheists, why don’t you take the idea that the Bible is allegory seriously?" Actually this is an incorrect question. We don't take YOU seriously. Get your story straight and agree, then we can talk. Until then you all just make each other look like gullible, narcissistic liars.
So, if I get this straight you are now saying that we should accept the Bible as the truth because much of it is made up stories - in other word lies?
I understand that much of it is allegory, and there is your problem, if it's not the truth then how does it describe the glory of your god?
*The classic of course is that if Genesis is allegory, then there is no original sin, and every single page that follows of the whole book is based on a false premise!
People develop religions based on allegory; start wars over allegory; oppress, enslave and murder other people because of allegory. The christian god issues commandments and kill orders through allegory.
There. An atheist said it. Doesn't make it sound any less immoral or any more true.
The bible is what is called "Faction” A fictional story set in a factual time and place. Thus the time, place and real historical characters are all correct but the fictional characters and stories are not!
There is not one single mention of Jesus in the entire Roman record - that is right - not one! At the same time as he was supposed to have been around there were a number of Jews claiming to be the messiah - all of whom are well recorded!
There is not a single contemporary record from any source and even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death!
He was supposed to have been a huge problem to the Romans and produced wonderful miracles but still not one contemporary record?
Even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death!
Pilate is recorded in the Roman record as a somewhat lack luster man but no mention of a Jesus, a trial or crucifixion that would surely have been used to make him look brighter!
At best he was an amalgam of those others but almost certainly never existed!
Not one word of it is contemporary with the period and was not written until several hundred years after the period the story is set in!! How did the apostles write their books more than a hundred years after they would have been dead?
Chrsitinaoity is an invention of the Italains and that is why it came from the Holy ROMAN Catholic church!
Please realize that those claims for the Old historians are worthless since they were not even born until long after everyone in the stories would have been so long dead!
Josephus AD 37 – AD 100
Tacitus AD 56 – AD 120
Suetonius - 69 – 130 AD
Pliny the Younger, 61 AD – 112 AD
Justin Martyr (Saint Justin) AD103–165 AD
Lucian - AD 120 -180 AD but he was hostile to Christianity and openly mocked it.
Pamphilius AD 240-309 AD
Eusebius AD 263 – 339 AD
Photius AD 877 – 886 AD
Thallus - But there are no actual record of him except a fragment of writing which mentions the sack of Troy [109 BC] Showing that he was clearly not alive in biblical times.
Some even try to use Seneca. 4 BCE – 65 CE but as a Stoic Philosopher he opposed religion yet made not a single mention of a Jesus or Christianity!
Even funnier is trying to claim Celsus AD ? – 177 AD Who said that Jesus was a Jew who’se mother was a poor Jewish girl whose husband, who was a carpenter, drove her away because of her adultery with a Roman soldier named Panthera. She gave birth to an illegitimate child named Jesus. In Egypt, Jesus became learned in sorcery and upon his return presented himself as a god.
It does NOT MATTER if scripture uses allegory or metaphor or plain ordinary gibberish. There is NO POINT is "deciphering" scripture for the atheist. I lack a belief in a deity, which means a lack of belief in anything and everything associated WITH religion, such as but not limited to heaven, hell, satan, angels, demons or scripture. Like I said, NO POINT. Religion says scripture is "the word of god" and the problem is, you must first prove there IS a god (as religion CLAIMS) before it is even possible for there the BE a word of god!
It is all allegory. Some good lessons about how to treat each other but every religion I know of has that. Usually limited to people of the same religion in practice.
Rabbi Hillel summed it up best:
A prospective convert to Judaism asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while he stood on one leg. Hillel replied: “That which is hateful unto you do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah, the rest is commentary. Go forth and study.”
If you remove all the allegories and the legends from older cultures transliterated into the bible--the bible would be 2 pages.
OH MY: ANOTHER GENIUS WHO DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE GREEK AND THEREFORE CANNOT POSSIBLY HAVE CHECKED THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS.
Allow me to educate you, friend. There is no discrepancy in Matthew. What the verses say is that zechariah wrote it, and Jeremiah also SAID IT. Your problem is this:
ho gegraphtai this means it was stated by written word.
to rhithen this means it was stated by spoken word alone, NOT by written hand.
THE NEXT TIME YOU THINK YOU'VE FOUND REASON TO MOCK THE WORD OF GOD, BE SURE YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE SMARTER THAN HE IS.
I do take it seriously. The bible is obviously allegorical in places.
The problem is that many Christians appear to misunderstand what that means, and assume that despite it being allegorical, its also literally true.
How is "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" an allegory?