Most people reading the Bible take the same reading skills to it they use for the morning paper. This promotes a literal outcome quite naturally. Without being schooled in biblical genres, it's easy to confuse narrative and other writings as exact representations of reality. The problem is, they are seldom that. Today's podcast episode introduces the theme of the next episodes: the curse of literalism. We will look at several of the most abused texts that need to be redeemed from their literal understanding. I will briefly comment on each of these in the episode. Next week will be a thorough look at the struggle Israel had in fully embracing monotheism. This will shed light on how the notions of God evolved over time, and surface a side of the Bible that most have never seen, or perhaps wish they never had. But it sheds light on how the Bible cannot function as "every word coming from God and is the absolute truth," as literalism would have it. TONIGHT: 4 PM (PST)—Join with other listeners for a discussion of the podcast AND let me know what you think are the most harmful literal interpretations of the Bible. Look for Pastor2Pew on Facebook. We will do this each Wednesday.Look for an invitation to join this Facebook page!