Flashy "Bible" seeks to inspire the ADHD generation
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Extracurriculars, Ripoffs and Scams, Simplification, Relationships
It's odd to hear people use the term "gateway Bible," as if scripture is an addictive drug that can be pushed on an unsuspecting dupe. However, that is exactly the term that is being used to describe Bible Illuminated, a glossy, coffee-table style version of the New Testament that is coming to the United States, courtesy of Swedish publisher Ab Forlaget. This new edition is chock full of beautiful art photographs and images of celebrities, including Martin Luther King and Angelina Jolie.
When I took Biblical literature in college, my classmates conducted a low-level battle over Biblical translations. Some advocated the King James translation, others preferred the New American, and still others pored through the original Hebrew. The versions that we chose said a lot about us. As a King James man, I liked the formal style of its classical English, although I appreciated that the New American was a little more accessible. My friend who advocated the Jeffersonian Bible was a bare-bones kind of guy, while my Hebrew-reading classmate placed a lot of stock in getting the original meaning and nuance of the scripture. Depending upon our personalities and level of imagination, a different version of the Bible resonated with each of us.
Ab Forlaget's Bible Illuminated seems designed for people with a total lack of imagination and only a tangential interest in scripture. The text is presented in a three-column style, with highlights around important passages, and key sections reprinted in large-type insets. All in all, the style should be familiar to any reader of Playboy, Harper's Bazaar, or Us. Essentially, it looks like a fashion mag that has been annotated by a not-particularly-bright high school student.
In case the highlights and insets don't make the message clear enough, Bible Illuminated also contains lots of pretty pictures, with captions taken from the text. Thus, "She shall have a son, and you will name him Jesus" appears beneath a photo of a veiled Middle Eastern woman and her son. Similarly, the Three Wise Men's question: "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews?" graces a picture of three inner-city youths in full street wear, striking rap star poses. While the images are beautiful and powerful, as well-designed as the fashion photographs in any oversized women's magazine, the overall package is scattered, shallow, and somewhat condescending. This version of the good book, which is available for preorder, will undoubtedly be a big hit with the Glamour crowd, but it seems to send a confused, simplistic message.
Bible Illuminated is, arguably, a notch or two better than Revolve, a Teen People style version of the New Testament that is currently being published by Thomas Nelson. Featuring breathless introductions, "pop-up" trivia, and other stylistic elements borrowed from teen gossip mags, Revolve seems designed to evoke the response "OMG! Like G is so GR8!!!" In its effort to bring the Bible to a teen audience, Thomas Nelson has produced a frightening Frankenstein monster of a tome, crudely stitching the transcendent tale of Christ to the most vapid, mindless portions of pop culture. However, it will undoubtedly look good on a bookshelf next to The Rubaiyyat of Hannah Montana and Brittany Spears' Bhagavad Gita.*
The Bible has been shifted and altered endlessly over the years, and the recent publication of The Green Bible, The Manga Bible, and numerous others point to an ever-growing attempt to sell scripture to niche markets. While there is definitely a lot to be said for inspiring new audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the mysteries and beauties of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the key is to ensure that the medium doesn't obscure the message. In the case of the Angelina Jolie-accented Bible Illuminated, it's pretty clear that the celebrities have become the message!
*By the way, i have dibs on both of these ideas, so back off!
Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. Reading back over this post, he just realized that he is, indeed, a total geek.
New Look for the Bible
Illustratedworld.com
IlluminatedWorld.com
Illuminatedworld.com
Illuminatedworld.com
When I took Biblical literature in college, my classmates conducted a low-level battle over Biblical translations. Some advocated the King James translation, others preferred the New American, and still others pored through the original Hebrew. The versions that we chose said a lot about us. As a King James man, I liked the formal style of its classical English, although I appreciated that the New American was a little more accessible. My friend who advocated the Jeffersonian Bible was a bare-bones kind of guy, while my Hebrew-reading classmate placed a lot of stock in getting the original meaning and nuance of the scripture. Depending upon our personalities and level of imagination, a different version of the Bible resonated with each of us.
Ab Forlaget's Bible Illuminated seems designed for people with a total lack of imagination and only a tangential interest in scripture. The text is presented in a three-column style, with highlights around important passages, and key sections reprinted in large-type insets. All in all, the style should be familiar to any reader of Playboy, Harper's Bazaar, or Us. Essentially, it looks like a fashion mag that has been annotated by a not-particularly-bright high school student.
In case the highlights and insets don't make the message clear enough, Bible Illuminated also contains lots of pretty pictures, with captions taken from the text. Thus, "She shall have a son, and you will name him Jesus" appears beneath a photo of a veiled Middle Eastern woman and her son. Similarly, the Three Wise Men's question: "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews?" graces a picture of three inner-city youths in full street wear, striking rap star poses. While the images are beautiful and powerful, as well-designed as the fashion photographs in any oversized women's magazine, the overall package is scattered, shallow, and somewhat condescending. This version of the good book, which is available for preorder, will undoubtedly be a big hit with the Glamour crowd, but it seems to send a confused, simplistic message.
Bible Illuminated is, arguably, a notch or two better than Revolve, a Teen People style version of the New Testament that is currently being published by Thomas Nelson. Featuring breathless introductions, "pop-up" trivia, and other stylistic elements borrowed from teen gossip mags, Revolve seems designed to evoke the response "OMG! Like G is so GR8!!!" In its effort to bring the Bible to a teen audience, Thomas Nelson has produced a frightening Frankenstein monster of a tome, crudely stitching the transcendent tale of Christ to the most vapid, mindless portions of pop culture. However, it will undoubtedly look good on a bookshelf next to The Rubaiyyat of Hannah Montana and Brittany Spears' Bhagavad Gita.*
The Bible has been shifted and altered endlessly over the years, and the recent publication of The Green Bible, The Manga Bible, and numerous others point to an ever-growing attempt to sell scripture to niche markets. While there is definitely a lot to be said for inspiring new audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the mysteries and beauties of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the key is to ensure that the medium doesn't obscure the message. In the case of the Angelina Jolie-accented Bible Illuminated, it's pretty clear that the celebrities have become the message!
*By the way, i have dibs on both of these ideas, so back off!
Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. Reading back over this post, he just realized that he is, indeed, a total geek.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
10-08-2008 @ 3:21PM
TC said...
THE BIG BOOK OF LIES CONTINUES TO REPEAT ITSELF
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 3:37PM
JP said...
"...blah blah BIBLE blah blah..."
Ding!
"Bible? Oh! Must...type...reflexive...comment...about...lies..."
Familiar process, TC?
10-08-2008 @ 3:54PM
Mark said...
LIES??? show me one lie. Jesus did exsist and there are many other writings and evidences of his exsistance and his claim to be the son of God. You can certainly choose to not believe his message, but a book of lies is just plain inaccurate.
10-08-2008 @ 7:29PM
H Morris said...
Dear TC,
Sorry to hear that your reading Darwin again. It is a shame that people continue to believe that book of lies.
10-08-2008 @ 3:23PM
Sark said...
Actually it seems pretty interesting. I don't think these "new bibles" will replace the "holy bible". But it ought to get more of the youth into religeon, it's becoming more appealing and some may say the the pictures might try to be decoding some of the messages for those who can be confused.
I'm not religeous in any way [[ which does not in fact make me "athiest" it makes me indecisive ]] but I think it'll be a way to connect with the youth. It's not a sin to spice up the bible a bit to bring in a new crowd of people, and no one's going to go to hell if they buy or wrote or produce or hold this new bible in any way shape or form. If such things were true every person the bibles hands went through is in hell right now.
The more "traditional" folk may find it appauling, but I think in the end they'll find these new bibles to bring in some of the more harder to reach youth, and maybe it'll make it easier for them to get into and they might actually read the book. Not that all teens or younger dont read the book, but I know I certaintly couldn't get into it in the black and white format.
And as far as removing or adding words, HELLO, people removed and added words the whole time it was originally made, and then compilled into the first true, book. What? Is christianity or catholicisim supposed to sit at a stand still?
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 7:48PM
Lori said...
If you are not Atheist, but are undecisive then you are "Agnostic".
10-08-2008 @ 3:31PM
RSKarma99 said...
Let me start by saying that I do believe in God and I am a Christian.
The main problem I have is that a good portion of the stories in the Bible are remarkably similar to stories in Zoroastrianism, the Mesopotamian religion, and both Greek and Roman mythology. The main stories that come to mind are:
Zoroastrianism:
*Utnapishtim: Was warned of the gods' plan to destroy all life through a great flood and instructed him to build a vessel in which he could save his family, his friends, and his wealth and cattle. After the Deluge the gods repented their action and made Utnapishtim immortal. (Also a Mesopotamian myth, but the name is changed to Ziusudra.)
Mesopotamian:
*Sargon the Great: (“exposed child”; Christianity -- Moses) United Mesopotamia in 2350 BCE. He was found in the river & triumphed through the love goddess Ishtar. (AKA Aphrodite/Venus)
*Ziusudra: The gods decided to punish humanity with a flood. One of the deities told Ziusudra, so he build an ark to save his family and as many animals as he could.
Roman Mythology:
*Mithra is the equivalent of Jesus, right down to the birthdate.
All of these pre-date Christianity....
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 5:31PM
Doug said...
Yes they do pre date Christianity but not the Bible. If you are a Christian than you believe what Jesus said and He said the Old Testament was the Word of God and all of these stories that were written LATER than the Old Testament stories were similiar for a reason.
10-08-2008 @ 5:53PM
Amy said...
Yes. And if you read the Bible, the story of the flood pre-dates Christianity as well. The Old Testament is not about Christianity, it's about the Jews, and Jesus didn't come along for a good many years after that. Perhaps the stories you listed are all the same, just different cultures' interpretations of it.
10-08-2008 @ 7:35PM
ejk said...
Of course the predate Christianity..Christianity didnt start until
Christ came. The Bible starts from creation, not the beginning of Christianity
10-09-2008 @ 8:05AM
June said...
RSKarma99, it's refreshing to find someone who has looked back to the beginning of our myth to find that our Western religious thought did actually evolve over time and built upon itself as the stories were told. Paul had a big job to do to bring so many myths into one and he seems to have done a magnificent job since the Christian story has survived over time.
10-08-2008 @ 3:44PM
sillygirl said...
Wow! At first I thought that it's a great idea to get the message out there anyway that you can, but unfortunately, packaging the bible in this manner will possibly only serve to dilute the message further. The bible doesn't need, rather, God doesn't need to be glammed up. What he offers in it's simple and purest form is more glamorous than anything we can imagine. Most celebrities are the antithesis of humility and therefore might find it difficult to make room for God in their lives. On the other hand, how many people already have a family bible posing as a coffee table book? At least this glossy version might get them to read a story or two, and in time they might even hear God's voice.
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 5:55PM
Darius said...
Well put! It's another example of the new age intellects tilting things their way to serve their agendas........ dark ages on the horizon.
10-08-2008 @ 6:07PM
Sandra said...
Very well put!! Thanks!!
10-08-2008 @ 3:48PM
kim said...
Wow wat is this world coming to.The only bible that should be used is the king james version but all these stupid people try to change the once perfect word of god.We are definetely in the last days
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 5:38PM
kAREEMA said...
tHE ONE PERFECT WORD OF GOD IS THE QURAN!
10-08-2008 @ 6:08PM
PastorCliff said...
Last days? Good to see someone recognize that.
Please reply in an email if you wouldlike to discuss it further.
I really enjoy discussing the Bible.
PastorCliff777@aol.com
Cliff4Jesus@comcast.net
10-08-2008 @ 6:30PM
Gretchen said...
Kim you think the KJV is the only one that should be read. I hate to tell you that it is also a translation. Lean to read Hebrew if you want to read a unaltered version of the bible.
10-08-2008 @ 8:27PM
Terry said...
What makes the King James version best? The oldest manuscripts still surviving are copies of copies of copies etc. In the earliest centuries, more than a millenium before the printing press was invented, there was little oversight in copying or dictating the writings that eventually made it into the Bible. Scribes often made changes to suit thier own ideas, and mistakes happened often, considering that they didn't use upper/lower case or even spaces between words. How would you interpret "GODISNOWHERE"? Is that a theist or athiestic comment? Could be either! There are thousands of variants, and the KJV is just one interpretation of which variants are the "correct" ones.
10-08-2008 @ 3:57PM
Marc said...
Great anaylses of how people are trying to change God's word to fit their ideals. Read it as is and you'll get all the answers you need to lifes questions.
Reply