Bibles for porn addicts...

[crimsondynamics]

...and manga fans as well as Lego buffs:

Most people think of the Bible as a densely printed book with no pictures, but a version of the scripture that resembles a glossy coffee table magazine aims to change that. It's part of a wave of radical presentations of the Bible, including a manga version and a Lego gospel. But how do Christians feel about these attempts to spread the word?

Bible Illuminated is the latest attempt to bring the Bible into the modern world. In the format of a 300-page glossy magazine, it contains the whole text of the New Testament.... The images are by turns beautiful, violent, oblique and provocative - much like the book itself.

OK, I have to admit this surprised me. I'm atheist and the person behind the Bible Illuminated is not Christian himself. Instead he sees a great business opportunity and states:

"I'm not on a mission from God," he explains. "I'm not particularly religious. I'm not telling anyone they should believe."

"It's the most sold book in the world, but the least known. I want to take it off the shelves and put it on the coffee table."

I'm sure being his ulterior motive is one of lucre, coupled with the unusual - some may even say irreverent - presentation, his version of the bible will rub many the wrong way. For many this may not even be considered a bible.

I think as a coffee book, his bible is definitely interesting and certainly a conversation piece, but I'm not sure I'd call it the "bible" since it lacks even the numbers of the passages.

The Bible Illuminated, while catering to the art crowd, is hardly the most unusual. Take this uniquely named bible:

The Jesus Loves Porn Stars Bible

No, I'm not making this up.

The Manga Bible

Here's a few excerpts:

Cain says to Abel, "Whassup, bro?"

Noah loads animals onto the ark, saying, "That's 11,344 animals? Arggh! I've lost count again. I'm going to have to start from scratch!"

Christ strides out of the desert like a Marvel superhero.

Finally, we have this version:

The Brick Testament

Yes, just like the image above, it's a bible that contains 4,124 illustrations, most likely "Legoized".

I can appreciate the coffee-book version, and would probably buy one myself if I saw it in a bookstore, and the Lego version must be a huge hit with children. I'd love to get my hands on the porn bible, though.

Now none of this offends me since I am not religious, but how do you view it? Is it a good idea? Does it disrespect Christianity? What's your stance on the matter?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7750842.stm

 

[Amnestic]

This is deeply offensive to me. How dare they draw pictures of Jesus? BRB, bombing their printing presses.

/snark

I'm not really sure what I think about all this to be honest. I'm sorely tempted to own a manga bible just "because", but I'd have to read some to know if it was any good first. Also, I already own one Bible, a pretty nice one at that, do I really need a second?

 

[Eyclonus]

Actually a lot of novelists and scriptwrites read Revelations quite a bit, the imagery of it strikes me as fucking warped, and many try to incorporate it into what they're doing. My favourite take on it is clearly Kingdom Come, if you don't know what that is, then you have no right to call yourself a comicbook geek.

 

[Zippy1313]

Holy Shit!! Is the next Lego game going to be Lego Jesus?! I need!!

 

[Lord George]

I think for Christianity its good idea as it may slow or even stop there rapid decline in followers in England and bring new blood into the church. Also even if you take the bible as a collection of stories (as I do) then it might be a good collection of stories nicely presented and worth reading

 

[Uncompetative]

Holy Shit!! Is the next Lego game going to be Lego Jesus?! I need!!

Yep. Trouble is you only get one respawn.

 

[crimsondynamics]

I think for Christianity its good idea as it may slow or even stop there rapid decline in followers in England and bring new blood into the church. Also even if you take the bible as a collection of stories (as I do) then it might be a good collection of stories nicely presented and worth reading

Story-wise, the bible is a fascinating read. If you look down near the bottom of the article they mention a Cockney version as well.

Holy Shit!! Is the next Lego game going to be Lego Jesus?! I need!!

Yep. Trouble is you only get one respawn.

Good one.

 

[Assassin_Thunder]

Holy Shit!! Is the next Lego game going to be Lego Jesus?! I need!!

lol

 

[milomalo]

Holy Shit!! Is the next Lego game going to be Lego Jesus?! I need!!

lol

not only lol but'
lol its jesus!

and yes you have only one respawn... but you have 12 sidekicks

 

[TwistedEllipses]

I'm not sure this is a good idea, other than the belittling of a religion, something worse could happen: people could read the bible. And let me tell you now there's a surprising amount of sex and violence. Seriously. We're talking about tent pegs being hammered through people's heads, incest and the works...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I love The Brick Testament, it illustrates some hilarious aspects of the bible AND the guy builds some really awesome lego stuff.

 

[Liverandbacon]

The brick testament is hilarious. Nothing is funnier than minifigs getting it on, then getting smote by god's wrath. Or maybe I just have a strange sense of humour.

 

[JBarracudaL]

While I can fully understand someone attempting to turn Jebus into the next Coka-Cola... good business.
I don't really think, even as an Atheist, it should be done just because it can be done and will most likely succeed greatly.
I'll sit back and wait for the lulz inducing headlines that come of "Jesus Flakes, The Holy Way To Start Your Day!"

 

[Liverandbacon]

While I can fully understand someone attempting to turn Jebus into the next Coka-Cola... good business.
I don't really think, even as an Atheist, it should be done just because it can be done and will most likely succeed greatly.
I'll sit back and wait for the lulz inducing headlines that come of "Jesus Flakes, The Holy Way To Start Your Day!"

I see it now... no more Cheez-its, but Jeez-its "The saviour snack". *hangs head in shame at terrible pun*

 

[JBarracudaL]

I see it now... no more Cheez-its, but Jeez-its "The saviour snack". *hangs head in shame at terrible pun*

If it's any consolation, I laughed.

I can't wait until Jesuscorp grows to such an extent that they release a game console.
The Ark, a console that only releases Christian themed games!
FPS where you play as jesus throwing crosses like shurikens and he announces "I forgive you" whenever an enemy is killed FTMFW.

 

[Liverandbacon]

I can't wait until Jesuscorp grows to such an extent that they release a game console.
The Ark, a console that only releases Christian themed games!
FPS where you play as jesus throwing crosses like shurikens and he announces "I forgive you" whenever an enemy is killed FTMFW.

Well, there was that game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces", which I gather was religion-themed. Though JesusCorp will get sued when they try to release a game called Halo.

 

[xitel]

Well, I think this defeats the purpose of displaying a Bible in your home. The point of displaying it is that you aren't ashamed to show it. I think if you're going to have a bible, it would be much odder to have the bible in manga form than to have a classic black leather bound copy with nothing on the outside but "Holy Bible".

 

[AwesomeHat]

Seriously. We're talking about tent pegs being hammered through people's heads, incest and the works...

Tent pegs?

...Seriously?

 

[colourcodedchaos]

Ha! Serves the Bible-bashers right for thinking their holy book's so damn great!

Am I only person here who thinks this is some sort of carefully orchestrated satire on Christianity? I mean, Christians wouldn't notice it was. Not for nothing is the French for Christian pronounced "Cretin"...

Anyway, it's a bit of fun for the chaps who rewrote it and did mangas for it and did the whole LEGO version. And it'll probably annoy the hell out of the fundamentalist types, so everyone's a winner!

 

[TwistedEllipses]

Seriously. We're talking about tent pegs being hammered through people's heads, incest and the works...

Tent pegs?

...Seriously?

yep, it's in judges somewhere...steal a bible and have a peek for yourself!