Do I need to be clever to watch Evangelion? I hear it has a ton

>>153368103
No you just need to be deep. It's all about shinjis low self esteem and daddy problems, reis identity problems and asukas mommy problems.

>but I've never read the bible and only know the basics of Christianity that you learn in secondary school

yeah that was the same for anno and the crew, i think the only notable biblical references are

>The seven eyes of god
>uber-rei having 14 wings
>the cross being the symbol for an angel dying or them blowing up something
>i guess an afterlife but thats very universal, instrumentality was just a representation of the flaws that come with most religions saying the afterlife is not filled with and mixed emotions, or i guess thats what i thought when i first watched it all
>angels being called angels

Theres some other stuff but i cant remember it. I heard there was parallel though between asuka/shinji and adam/eve and them being implied to be the only ones left on earth

>>153368103
Don't worry too much. The creators of Evsngelion never read the Bible either. Do the words/concepts Adam, Eve, the cross, fruit of knowledge and wisdom, Angels and the weird Jewish myth of Lilith mean anything to you? Then you're good.

>>153368103
No, you can actually be pretty much stupid and illiterate and still watch it.

>>153368103
It's not really symbolism so much as name-dropping Judeo-Christian imagery purely for the aesthetic.

IIRC Anno called it Evangelion "because it sounded cool"