Originally posted by Epoch
I think it goes deeper than that. Read the book "Hero of 1,000 masks", which talks about the universal concept of "The Hero's Quest", and you'll find that these universal themes apply more that what one could find in the bible.
I think allegories can be drawn because people wish them to be there... It's like the same thing that some Christians are trying to place a biblical spin on Harry Potter to make it OK and pious for their kids to read 
no, really, there are actually small refererences to the bible in LOTR. its not largely based on it, but him being very religious, he put a few in.
its like people's obsession with him being gay. people will only look at things as they want to see them.
and with both harry potter and LOTR, the theme of it all is that good never wins, it only buys itself time.