Should Bible be taken literal, historical, or perhaps allegorical?

The wiser we get about the ridiculousness of some of the scriptures the more people try to say it wasn't literal - it was allegorical. For centuries people lived by it as 'God's' word, and now we can prove that some things are beyond the realms of possibility people attempt a ad hoc rescue by claiming it was allegorical. One of these day God himself will be ped off as an allegory for the big bang. Lol!