Literalism shackles the liberating message of Jesus. If my eyes make me sin, must I tear them out (Mark 9:47)? Can anyone human be "perfect" (Matt 5:48)? Is self-esteem a sin (Luke 1:51)? Sadly, some good Christians feel those statements must be true. Expecting any literate person can pick up the gospels and read them as they were intended is foolhardy. The profound effect of the culture the gospel writers lived and wrote in, their use of references...