The Bible tells you so, even in other books

 Biblical allusions are easy to find, they appear throughout “book history” from old books to new, more modern day books. They are the most common allusion found, the question is why. What good does it do a story to add biblical allusions in, why would you want your book to be tied to the bible. As with any allusion, obvious or hidden, there is a purpose to putting a reference to someone else's material in your book, and it's not to be accused of plagiarism. Sometimes the reason behind an allusion can be well, alluding, however biblical allusions are so common that the main reason is easy to figure out.

Modern day writers have been missing out on this reason a bit, they don't quite seem to understand the true purpose behind using a biblical allusion. Instead they make a mockery of it, using bible-like stories to mock the ancient stories, making a laughingstock of a historical book. Biblical allusions are worth so much more then a cheap laugh, or a twisted tale, they add depth and history to a story. As Foster says in his examples, it adds a past. If your story happens to be two brothers fighting that alludes to the story of Cain and Abel. Foster says that allusion expands upon the story by showing a new history, suggesting that your characters aren't the only two bothers in the world who fight. This is what biblical allusions add to a story, a rich history, a common thread.

Even if you aren't highly religious they're easy to catch, and they add weight to a story. Whether or not you believe that Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins if you read a story about a man, who sacrificed himself for the good of others the sacrifice itself seems drastically more important and worthwhile when the allusion towards the death of Jesus is caught. This extra weight is otherwise known as deeper meaning, it adds a second layer to a story, an emotional purpose behind the words. This is the ultimate purpose of an allusion, according to buzzle, to add an emotional tie to a story, a new past that explores a deeper connection then the surface one. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/biblical-allusions.html

Along with the history and the weight that references to the bible can add they also help the author out through pathos and ethos. Connecting a man's sacrifice to Jesus' sacrifice pulls on the emotional heart strings. It expands upon the pride one feels for the man and the guilt for letting him sacrifice. It also adds ethos to the story, it helps give the author more credit by displaying a fair amount of research went into the book. Using biblical allusions make a person sound well-versed, knowledgeable. The reader is more likely to believe what the author's saying if they're alluding to a famous, religious book, one that's whole purpose is to educate on how to be a better person. Wouldn't you believe them, if the example they're pulling from comes from a book that instructs not to lie.

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