I hate to tell you this, Battle, but teaching "word by word" and "literally" would be a huge mistake... let's just say that any translation is a compromise which necessarily changes the meaning of the original. You can't be literal with translated works, you have to take them in context. Additionally, if you don't understand historical context, you won't understand that certain words or customs had vastly different meanings than we would ascribe to them today. Hermeneutics...
Now get thee to a Bible-believing church!!!!!!!!
We know the bible was written in hebrew, greek and arameic. Also, we know almost all of the historical context.