Reading the Bible seems simple enough — why is there so much controversy over how it should be read? Shouldn’t the meaning of words be taken at face value unless otherwise indicated?
This makes sense in all other contexts. We want our doctors to read medical forms literally, not metaphorically; we want our lawyers to read legal codes literally, not allegorically; we want our engineers and architects to read blueprints literally, not symbolically. The Bible is no different — Scriptures should be read literally for the same reason anything else is: because the function of words is to transmit a literal meaning.