No one was more literal than Nichiren

Dave Cole, Martin Bradley, and especially SGI teach, "I" in the verse section of Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra means every single believer. 

Nichiren teaches:

"This excellent good medicine I now leave here. You should take it and drink it and not fear that you will not be cured. In the final dharma age, it means Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, "I" means Sakyamuni..." (STN 3:2666) 

"Bodhisattva Superior Practices received the water of the wisdom of the Mystic Law from the Thus Come One Shakyamuni and causes it to flow into the wasteland of the people’s lives in the evil world of the latter age. This is the function of wisdom. Shakyamuni Buddha transferred this teaching to Bodhisattva Superior Practices, and now Nichiren propagates it in Japan. With regard to the transfer of teachings, it is divided into two categories: general and specific. If you confuse the general with the specific even in the slightest, you will never be able to attain Buddhahood and will wander in suffering through endless transmigrations of births and deaths."

They then accuse us of being literal. If that is so, there was no one more literal than Nichiren. He read every passage, every sentence, and every word of the Lotus Sutra with his very body. He taught a literal interpretation of the Sutra. The Ongi Kuden is not in Nichiren's hand. It is not the teachings of Nichiren. I am looking forward to eventually reading Nichiren's Chu Hokkeyo, his annotated copy of the Lotus Sutra, Then you will see what Nichiren actually taught about the sentences and phrases of the Lotus Sutra. Do you know why neither SGI, the Nichiren Shoshu, nor the Nichiren Shu ever translated the Chu Hokkekyo nor made its contents widely known? Were they to have disseminated it, no one would join their evil sects and cults.