Customer Reviews

The Brick Testament: Stories from the Book of Genesis

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I actually bought The Brick Testament for a friend (who is a devout Baptist) and ended up buying a copy for myself since it was so hilarious. (For the record, my Baptist friend thought it was hilarious and not offensive in the slightest)
The book is essentially a pared down Old Testament, with the most critical aspects of the stories depicted entirely in Lego brick. It is quite clever! The author uses the Legos in a very creative and illustrative way. I can't help thinking that it takes a slightly twisted sense of humour to appreciate, so those who enjoy Monty Python for example, will definitely appreciate this book.
And, as someone who has read the bible several times, I can say with certainty that it is a very accurate and blunt depiction of biblical tales. The people who say it is inaccurate probably have never read the bible, and the people who say it is irreverent have no sense of humour! That being said, since it is a very accurate and literal depiction of biblical stories (such as Sodom and Gomorra), this is probably not a good book for children. I would rate it at least PG-13 for sexual situations and violence (albeit the brick variety).
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great gift or a coffee table conversation starter. Lego lovers and crazy people from Baptists to atheists will enjoy this book! You will never look at Lego the same way again!

Biblical scholars may debate who originally dotted the i's and crossed the t's, but it was Brenden Powell Smith who, at the command of God, illustrated and retold this collection of stories from the book of Genesis - using LEGOs. In his introduction to The Brick Testament, Smith recalls his conversation with God over a flaming burrito (that's right) and how, like many of the heroes of the Genesis stories, God used the most unlikely person to tell these stories. Combining a strong sense of visual story telling, elaborate LEGO constructions, and intentional photography, Smith has creatively "illustrated" favorites from the book of Genesis such as the Garden of Eden, Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other lesser known stories. The "illustrations" are created entirely from LEGOs and presented in full-color photographs. The Garden of Eden scenes are complete with leafy trees, colorful flowers, red apples (that perfectly fit the LEGO human hands), Adam, Eve, and yes, God. Smith does take some artistic liberty and augments facial features for emotional effect. While the LEGO "illustrations" are unconventional for story telling, it is Smith's wickedly humorous objective perspective which gives these stories a fresh look. Highly Recommended.

I highly recommend this book and to take a look at his website www.bricktestament.com for insight into the bible. From other reviews posted here, I can see many are living judgmental lives in the misunderstanding of their convicted faith. Good principles are tainted by inherent flaws in the man-made institution of Christian religion (i.e. a call to blind faith and ignorance. The stubborn self-righteous ideology that only you are right, no matter what, that has led to innumerable persecutions, genocide and prejudice). THIS is what this book is about. The violence and gruesome depiction here? OPEN YOUR EYES, this is exactly what is said in the bible. No imposed opinion or bias. You might be surprised. Well, surprise! The bible was written by men, not God. This book is not meant to teach Christianity to children, it's meant to teach truth and tolerance to the ignorant. Please, everyone, stop accepting this judgmental view as a corner stone of faith. Let the good ideas just be good ideas. Think for yourselves and you will discover an affinity for morality and who God really is.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, it's hard to deny that the bible is one of the most important books ever written. Its influence on modern life in America, and much of the world, is hard to overstate. Still, most people have not read much if any of the bible, regardless of their religious beliefs.

This book is the most fun and readable bible book I've come across.

I like that it's composed of verbatim bible verses, rather than narrative retelling. Many books that aim at making the bible casually readable do so by playing with the content. That is not done here. Certain verses and chapters are omitted to move things along, but the content you read is the purported word of God.

The book maintains its readability by virtue of its beautifully realized images. The artwork is whimsical yet effecting. Watching these classic stories unfold visually is great fun. I would say that the bible is "brought to life" moreso here than in many other forms. In fact many of these images have become the images that I see when visualizing biblical tales!

Only ten stories from Genesis are covered, but the book is substantial since each verse is on a page of its own accompanied by a beautiful full sized, full color illustration. It's a quick read, but I find myself showing it to friends and flipping through it again and again. I'll be leaving this on the coffee table for quite a while :)

Whether you are a fundamentalist or an atheist (like myself) this is a great, fun little book.

And the lord spoke down to the hippy priest and said "Thou shalt build me the old testament in lego!", and he did!
This is truly inspired stuff, and extremely funny with it! If you are devout christian, avoid it, but if you have a sense of humour and and open mind, this is a great book. I always knew lego would be good for something one day, and here it is. I guess it is sort of educational too - but dont let that put you off!!

I must say...I don't understand all these people that are so upset about what is written in their own holy book.

"Propaganda?" Either the bible is the word of God or it isn't. Sorry, no pick-and-choose allowed here.

"Lack of respect for god's word?" God's word speaks for itself. It is those that choose to ignore the words that appear in the bible that show their lack of respect.

Bestiality, homosexuality, violence, bigotry, slavery, etc. are all parts of the "good" book. So either you subscribe to them as "gospel" or you don't (which is the most reasonable position).

Deuteronomy 22:22 states: "If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die."

Leviticus 20:13 states: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

In other words....God has no tolerance for homosexuals, adulterers, etc. So either you subscribe to his punishment for such offenses (stoning to death), or you don't. And if you don't then why do you subscribe to any of the other nonsense that was written by a bunch of primitive people who thought that bloodletting by leeches was a cure for dysentery, that the earth was flat, etc.?

Either you accept "God's word" (accurately portrayed with lego people) or you don't. Period.

My favorite part of this book is the negative feedback it has received. Just skim through them real quick and take a gander--they're hilarious! "Oh my heavens! This book depicts the Bible explicitly, and doesn't sugar coat its stories! It's therefore not for children!"

Yes, because any good Christian knows that you can't be honest about Biblical stories with children because it'll scare the *hell* out of them! Or, wait; isn't that actually the point? ;P

This is *not* a book for children, christian faithful, or anyone who may be offended by images of Lego persons engaged in sexual acts. If you are such a person, save your time -- stop and seek amusement elsewhere.

This book is best suited to oddball athiests, wacky agnostics, or anyone with an irreverent streak. Being a recovering Catholic and Lego addict myself, I found this series to be a riot. If you have a sense of humor and have disagreements with the teachings of the Bible, you'll enjoy the parody.

Having followed the progression of The Brick Testament online for the last two years, I could hardly wait to buy the book. My expectations were exceeded, as it is a beautiful presentation that is sure to delight any reader. Filled with page after page of amazing "illustrations" this book practically commands its readers to go back and read it again and again just to take in all the small details. Don't be fooled by the subject matter or the supposed genre, as this book is sure to be appealing to those of any (or no) denomination. Like any good book, it leaves the reader begging for more. Here's hoping more of Brendan's work gets published!

I bought this book (and the others by the same author) for my brother who is a huge Lego fan. He actually read them all and loved them, whereas before it was difficult to get him to read other books with kids' versions of Bible stories.