How should you interpret religious metaphysics and cosmolog:heaven,hell,rebirth,etc

[Manjushri]

I'm not clear on this. Sometimes it seems allegorical, but sometime's it also seems very literal. Leo talked about this in the All of religion explained in one video.

Heaven and hell in Christianity , Jihad in Islam, Rebirth and the 6 realms in eastern religions.

If it's meant as literal, does it diminish the value of the teachings of the Messiahs? Were they really enlightened? Did they actually try to make an allegory to make it more understandable for the common people or is it just an idealization of them??

Looking forward to hear from you guys.

Edited December 16, 2018 by Manjushri