I don't read the Bible literally and I beliefve we have the ability to be good people. We are not born bad. The Sermon on the Mount is about a way to live .. it IS about being good. If Jesus thought we could not be good, He would not have wasted three and a half years tell us HOW to be good people.
The fundamentalist "sin" versus "not sinning" approach misses the mark ... it misses the LIFE of Jesus and it focuses on his death.
The fundamentalist "sin" versus "not sinning" approach misses the mark ... it misses the LIFE of Jesus and it focuses on his death.
I believe that Scripture should be taken literally unless there is compelling linguistic reason to do otherwise.
For example: Jesus did NOT literally mistake the Pharisees for snakes. The words 'like' or 'as' usually cue us that a symbolic meaning is coming. If something is exaggerated to the point of being preposterous, it is probably a teaching style of 1st century rabbinics called didactic hyperbole.
IMO if you allegorize or Spiritualize Scripture you will miss the point.