Is The Bible An Allegorical Book?

By Pastor Bruce K. Oyen

Email: bk_oyen@hotmail.com

     Is the Bible an allegorical book? This subject came to mind this winter (2013) when watching the Bill O'Reilly TV program. Although he is right on many subjects, he was wrong when he said the Bible is an allegorical book. If he had simply said the Bible contains many figures of speech, he would have been correct. But he clearly said it is an allegorical book. That is false. I can say this from firsthand knowledge of the Bible, having read it numerous times. I know what an allegory is, and the Bible is not an allegorical book. 

     But what is an allegory?  Here (in red) is what an old Funk And Wagnall's dictionary says an allegory is: "1.The setting forth of a subject or the telling of a story in figurative or symbolic language requiring interpretation; especially a narrative veiling a moral by symbolic devices, such as personification, metaphor, etc. 2. Any subject or story so presented; loosely, any symbolic presentation in literature or art; an emblem."

Here (in red) is what the same dictionary also says right after that definition:  "Synonyms: fable, illustration, metaphor, parable simile, story. Antonyms: chronicle, fact, history, narrative, record."

     A famous example of an allegorical book is John Bunyan's "The pilgrim's Progress." It was written as an allegory, and must be read as one.

    I'm not sure why Bill O'Reilly says the Bible is an allegorical book, but I do know that some readers say that because they do not want to accept its controversial  contents as "chronicle, fact, history, narrative, record." So, they say it is to be interpreted to mean something different than what it says. This allows them to accept the theory of evolution, and to reject the Biblical account of the divine and miraculous origin of all things, just as we read in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 and many other places in the Bible. This allows them to say the story of the prophet Jonah being swallowed by a large fish (sometimes referred to as a "whale"), and then being vomited out alive by that fish, and then telling others about the ordeal, could not be literal, historical narrative. They say those things could not have really happened, and so the story must be an allegory from which we are to learn certain lessons.

    But it is quite significant that the Biblical account of creation and of the story of Jonah were both referred to as fact by none other than Jesus Christ himself. You can read his affirming references to these controversial subjects in the 12th and 19th chapters of Matthew's Gospel. Those of us who believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Savior of sinners, the wisest man who ever walked this planet, the one who physically rose again from the dead, unhesitatingly say that we believe the Bible's presentation of these controversial subjects are historically accurate because we believe Jesus Christ knew what he was talking about. As has been said, he was either the Lord. a liar, or a lunatic. We know he was/is the Lord. Therefore, he was/is always right.

    It is true that the Bible uses a variety of symbolic language. But it is primarily "chronicle, fact, history, narrative, record." And it is usually easy to tell what is presented as symbolic language, and what is not.