Customer Reviews

Bible Illuminated: The Book: New Testament

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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

While I still think this is a really cool format for the Bible, there are a couple things that were kind of a bummer. The first is that this is being marketed as a high end magazine / coffee table book format. the cover is nice, but the inside pages are definately not "high end," they are as flimsy as any monthly magazine worth 3.75. Unfortunately this version probably will not hold to the test of time, esp. for the price. I would recommend holding out for a hard-bound if they ever exist...if not it is still worth having if only for a short while. the second issue is that the verses are not referenced within the chapters, a minor thing.

I'm amazed this has not been mocked and derided more than it has. I'll just preface by saying that I'm an agnostic and don't have a dog in this fight, pro or con. It's not on religious, or even scholarly, grounds that I say this item is the exact moment when a culture vomits.

No, my problem with this is aesthetic. This is yet another example of the pernicious effect of celebrity and fashion upon our culture. There is no purpose in this existing, except to spread celebrities' images and the aesthetic of fashion magazines into territory that, frankly, I would never have expected it to go. And another example of thinking that the "kids these days" aren't smart enough to understand anything unless it's been MTV-ed over and celebritized.

No, no, no. Enough.

This book resembles a magazine with glossy paper, including the thin paper cover. It is not sturdy and my copy is showing wear after a small amount of gentle use. The cost is quite high for a magazine-like binding. I had thought it would be more like a coffee table book with a sturdy binding, possibly hardcover, but that is not what this is.

Regarding the text itself, the American Bible Association has given permission for The Good News version of The New Testament to be used in this publication. So this is not a new translation of text, if you are looking for a more modern language translation perhaps you should look into "The Message" by Eugene Peterson (it can be viewed online for free or purchased in book form).

The font is two different sizes, is quite small, and is laid out in either three or four columns. Readers over age 40 may need to don their cheaters to read this book. The typical Bible annotation with numbers and chapters is not here so it really looks like a magazine article layout (it is slick and modern looking). Also some of the text is highlighted with yellow block, and other times the text is in red font, which naturally catches our eye. At times the highlighted text also appears as a caption to the accompanying photograph. I had trouble at times connecting the meaning of the quote with the chosen image. It is interesting to ponder why that little blurb was selected versus some other. Also some photographs have their own caption (not a Bible quote) to explain a little about what we are looking at.

I was confused by many of the images selected and some of the captions and some of the quotes, and pondered for days what the source of my discomfort was and why I was reacting negatively to the book. Many of the images are not closely tied to literal interpretations of the text nor are they just artistic abstract images or nature images. Sometimes when a photo has an excerpt from the Bible I just don't understand the matching of the image to the text, no matter how long I contemplate it. Other times it seems the captions led me to a belief that was apart from what the Bible was saying, extrapolating a notion in the Bible to possibly relate to air pollution, meat eating, global warming, over-consumption, poverty, access to modern health care, gender inequality in education and access to prescription drugs for HIV positive people in third world countries.

The second and more dangerous issue is that through these images and the added, new text inserted by the book's creators, the message that comes across to the reader that is above and beyond what Christians usually take from the content in the New Testament. In other words a message from this book is not the same or typical messages gleaned by those who read JUST the text of the New Testament. Christians believe the Bible is the word of God and Christians take the Bible's words, combine them with prayer to listen to what God leads them to do to put God's words into action. However in this book, the creators have added the word of man (their words) mixed in with the Bible's words, combining it with God's call to help others. The creators of the book call readers to take action, to take specific actions, political and social actions to fulfill the stated goals of the United Nations. Instead of leaving the reader to contemplate, pray and figure out how they can apply the word of God and Jesus Christ to help their fellow man with their direct actions, the publishers boldly tell readers what they would like to see the reader do (support the United Nations and to donate their money for one thing).

I am referring to the portions that reference "Eight Ways to Change the World" which is a goal of the United Nations called the `Millennium Development Goals' which they hope will be realized by the year 2015. Readers are called to action by supporting initiatives of the United Nations and to donate their money (just one dollar you donate can help...) to such causes as improving medical care for pregnant women in third world countries to try to lower the maternal mortality rate, and also a call to action to get more prescription drugs for Africans with AIDS, to name just two. In case you think I am exaggerating, I have an email from Dag Soderberg that confirms this stated objective, to try to influence readers to support the United Nations objective. Some of the photographs in this book first appeared in a show featuring photographs to support "Eight Ways to Change the World". It seems that Dag Soderberg then hatched the idea to bring the message of that show to Americans and other English speaking peoples by combining that message with a New Testament Bible (the Bible is book that repeatedly sells the most copies year after year).

A section of the book has photographs of some people who have lived in this last century who the authors feel have done work to change the world for the better. Some include Angelina Jolie, Bono, Muhammad Ali, Al Gore, and Che Guevara. I will leave you to decide what you think about the individuals selected. Perhaps you will have some issues as I did. One would think that a New Testament that guides Christians might show Christians who have done good works. Instead I arrived at the conclusion that non-believers are `good people too' and didn't need the Bible to guide their actions. We all know that Godless people, and people of other faiths can do good things but why include it in a New Testament Bible? The fact that the most Christian book in the world has a `religion doesn't matter' notion is a bit hard for me to take.

Another impression I received was that the Bible is outdated and perhaps not the best advice to take. I point to the spread of what I thought was a gruesome image of a rich white woman tearing apart a roasted goose with her bare hands (an unrealistic and creepy image). The Bible text with it puts down what we call `being a vegetarian'. Will that not tick off and gross out the vegetarian social activists out there and lead them to put down The New Testament as outdated and just wrong? In another section the statement that women must submit to their husbands is highlighted but text about how a husband needs to treat his wife well is not highlighted. Another recommendation that women must have long hair goes against what many modern women choose concerns their hair length.

I called this a Trojan Horse because I think that people will seek to buy this because they want the message of the Bible with an appealing visual element, but instead they receive messages from non-Christians urging them in words and powerful images to take social and political action to support the initiatives of the United Nations. Readers who look only at the photographs, captions, highlighted text and read the new section about the United Nations will be more susceptible to that influence than those who already know the content of the New Testament or those who actually read the text in this version.

So who are the creators or illuminators as they call themselves? From the official website, we learn that creator of "Illuminated World" is Dag Soderberg who " is a spiritual but not particularly religious individual". The others involved are investors and business people. From the publishers website I learned this:

"Are any of the founders or business partners of Illuminated World religious?

"There is no religious mission here. We believe that the success of The Book will be driven by the fact that this is not coming from within any specific faith, religion or church. We are from many faiths, backgrounds and beliefs and ultimately trying to create something for the many and not just for the few."

According to Bible Illuminated website, they are currently working on their version of the Old Testament. Also shared is that the organization has future plans to do translations of other religious books as well.

When picking this up I had nothing to compare or contrast it to. But all of a sudden I found myself interested in exploring the Bible, in a context I could appreciate. Having a background in design I was instantly attracted to the concept for this book. I will be reviewing this book based more on the design aspects, because that is what i know!

Though the symbolism might not be as easy for me to understand compared to someone with a good knowledge of the Bible I still enjoyed trying to make the connections between the quotes and imagery. I found this translation of the Bible surprisingly simple to understand. I was expecting to have to do a lot more deciphering to understand it. That makes it all the more attractive to read, I can just read it!

Bible Illuminated is literally a magazine and a thin one at that! It actually reminds me of NEED Magazine, which is a humanitarian magazine with breathtaking photography and powerful stories. Both Bible Illuminated and NEED Magazine are laid out beautifully, no clutter only the essentials.

I love how Bible Illuminated tells a complete story using all sorts of imagery including celebrities, historic events, strange fashion-like photography and computer festivals among other things! I like how each section for the most part, used it's own specific theme for photography to separate it from the others. That definitely added to the idea of a magazine with different stories or sections.

It was very helpful for me to have quotes pulled out but for consistency it would have made more sense to stick with maybe large quotes and highlights and gotten rid of the red quotes and black boxed quotes. Too many ways to do one thing gets a little bothersome. Also because this is literally a magazine it's a little hard to read without fearing I would damage it, I think maybe a slightly thicker cover would help make it easier for reading it wouldn't flop around as much. Magazines tend to slip right out of my hands and land on the floor!

I know that the Old Testament is set for release in 2009. I hope this will not be the final book from The Illuminated World. I would be very interested to see if they will continue on this project with other religious texts. That would be amazing.

I know some people are questioning this version of the Bible, but for me I find it fascinating. Honestly, I can't think of a more attractive way to be presented this text, but then again that's just me! I know I will definitely be exploring Bible Illuminated for years to come. This is a fascinating piece that deserves multiple readings.

Doesn't have verses nor chapters, which was a disappointment at the begining. But then again the Bible is to be read as narrative (at least OT & originally there are not separations) so I won't complain about that.

Because of that, it primarily will be used individually, i suppose that i could be used to read the whole Bible.

Maybe I'm not artistic enough, but many times I don't see the connection with the photos and the text. So photos are excellent and do bring more background to the text. Some pictures look too much like ocult.

It's not a paraphrase, so that's good. But I see a value in it. Even on a road trip the person in backseats would much more likely read that than if i a traditional Bible was there.

I was very happy initially to find this item. It sounded like it would be a great item to have and keep, so I rationalized the high price for the item.

When I opened the package (surprised that they used such poor quality packaging to protect something like this) it was just a cheap, low grade magazine cover. It was, of course, crimped and damaged because of the poor packaging and mediocre quality of the cover and pages.

As Christians I feel like we have a responsibility to strive for excellence, especially if we are producing such a sacred item (the Bible....). If this would have been a third the cost, then I would have rationalized the cheap magazine quality of the item, but it wasnt. This item is very overpriced. I actually would have paid a third more than I did for a quality item.

This is a real shame too, as the images and layout are good. It is also a shame that just the regular turning of the pages leaves more "dent" and "crimps" in the cover and pages. so there is no real use in being able to put this out on the coffee table or to keep it as an item to be proud of or be able to reference in the future.

Whoever on staff there, that made the obvious poor decision to create such a poor quality item, when it shows that a ton of work went into the copy and images, should really rethink future decisions like this.

Its just a reprint of the New Testament of the Bible........OR IS IT? I saw the publisher of the book on The Colbert Report and was intrigued by his concept...to take one of the most published books in history and turn it into a coffeetable book with contemporary photo-illustrations with captions from Biblical passages. Of course, the photos paired with the Bible text create an actual COMMENTARY on modern life......a critique of sorts. I found this a very creative way to bring the Bible into modern day relevance as a philosophical tome. It is something no American publisher has dared to do....it takes a European to have the guts to do it! (Swedish)
On my coffeetable it has drawn attention and created fascinating dialog about what the Bible's meaning is. Try it, you will enjoy it!

The Bible Illuminated is a different and creative way to read the New Testament. The photographs within the magazine-formatted Bible bring interest and inspiration to the words written. It is formatted as a magazine is, without chapters or verses, so it can be read more as a story than separate verses. I love it!

Great coffee discussion bible, but wish the old and new testaments were printed together and maybe a smaller book with both old and new testaments together.

I have to admit that when I first saw this book, I was apprehensive to read it. Bible Illuminated the Book: New Testament touches on a very sensitive subject matter, even though I had no predetermined clue or thoughts about this book either good or bad.

Bible Illuminated is one of those books that you want to put on display for all to see and read. It is written in such an easy text that anyone can read it with no problems. The pictures shown throughout this book are so breathtaking, they are like art. They are so crystal clear you can stop even the smallest of details not to mention that the pictures just jump off the page at you.

Every time I pick up this book I discover something new. It is like Christmas every day...you never know what you are going to get but when you open your present you are delighted. Mr. Forlaget did a good job with Bible Illuminated considering the subject matter. He could have injected his beliefs and thoughts into this book but instead he kept it pretty true to the original but just with some modernization. Which I felt did not hurt or hinder this book in any way. Pick up a copy of this book and read what every one else is talking about.