Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 81
? 74 there is thus hardly any room for vicarious atonement to serve any purpose. In short, the entire foundation on which the edifice of vicarious atonement has been raised, and on the basis of which Christianity claims that since man cannot save himselef, on his own, from sin, a belief in vicarious atonement is essential, is found to be unreal on the evidence both of the Old and of the New Testaments. ALLEGORIC NARRATIVE Again, it appears from the Bible that the whole of this incident relating to Adam takes the form of allegory and there is evidently no sense in basing a religious believe on its foundation. For, the Bible says that when Eve ate of the fruit and gave it to Adam: "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. ” (Genesis 3:7) Becoming nude after partaking of the fruit of the forbidden tree is clear evidence of the fact that the incident is narrated in the form of an allegory. It is again