The sort of textual literalism right-wing Christians take for granted is new in Christianity, anyway -- a concept that was all but unheard of until a couple centuries ago. Up until then, your points about cultural context and critical reading were taken for granted by pretty much all Christian leaders. Fundamentalists might think they are returning to the ways of the early church, but the literalism they rely on and teach is not a return; it's a newfangled notion early Christians themselves soundly rejected.