Trilogy and Bible?

Hi! Ok, I'm new and haven't had time to read through all of this, but...

I want to say:
a) that since Tolkien himself said that he hates allegory and it's not allegorical, we may as well accept that.
b) Tolkien himself also said that it's a profoundly religious work, and it's obvious that his Christian worldview plays out in the books... we may as well accept that too.


All that said...
I find it very interesting that Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn do not recognize Gandalf when he first returns in The Two Towers... that made me immediately think of Jesus and the way in which those who encountered him after his resurrection didn't recognize him... the parallel would seem a bit too strong to be coincidental... if it weren't for the fact that Tolkien explicitly says it wasn't an intended paralel...

But I find that interesting and thought I'd mention it...