While three quarters of Brits own a Bible, it seems that it stays on the shelf. The survey revealed very low levels of biblical literacy. Not surprisingly, very few could name the Ten Commandments. Most surprisingly, however, 57% had no idea about the story of Joseph and his brothers while 60% were clueless about the parable of the Good Samaritan. And people tended to be more familiar with the New than the Old Testament.
So those are the headlines. But what does this mean? The rather strange leaking of only some of the findings at this point has left many questions unanswered. Do British people actually like the Bible? What is their attitude towards it? Do they think it has any continued relevance? Fortunately, I have some of the answers to this. (Photo: GeoWombats)
Vatican archaeologists have potentially discovered the body of St Paul, the Pope announced yesterday. Bone fragments thought to belong to the famous apostle have been discovered in a tomb in St Paul's basilica outside Rome. Independent carbon-dating revealed that the bone dated to the first or second centuries - which fits with the timing of St Paul's life and death.
The announcement coincided with the festival of St Peter and St Paul, which commemorates the work of the two famous apostles. It's interesting that The Guardian has chosen to feature the find prominently on its website. Most other British news outlets seem not to have caught on yet - or seen the news value - despite it being out on the wires.
Rate him or not, St Paul is one of the most influential figures in world history. His writings make up around 2/3 of the New Testament. So I would have thought the potential discovery of his mortal remains deserves more than a passing mention. It's watch this space, I guess (Photo: Nathan Gibbs).
Amid the media hysteria around the death of the King of Pop, one aspect of his life that will probably be overlooked in retrospectives is his religious formation. Until 1987, Jackson was a practising Jehovah's Witness, which would have meant that the Bible was central to his outlook on life.
His career brought him into conflict with both the local elders in his congregation and even the movement's international HQ. He was criticised by fellow Witnesses in 1984 for glorifying demonism during the video of Thriller (Jehovah's Witnesses believe that ghosts are really demons, not dead people). In response, he was quoted in one of the organisation's periodicals, Awake!, as saying: "I realise now it was not a good idea. I'll never do a video like that again."
How far is too far? That was the question looked at this week by the trainees on the MediaNet Academy, an annual training course I run for budding media types. They were briefed to produce content for an imaginary new reality TV show, Angels and Demons - where viewers vote to make or break someone's day. The video they produced is above. Here's the accompanying website and radio report. See what you think.
They start off with a poll showing that only 28% of British teenagers can name a single one - while just 6% of adults can list them all. So far, so predictable. I'm not sure I could even name them all myself off the top of my head (I hate being put on the spot, you see). But look, everyone! There's even an eyecatching photocall at Westminster, complete with a new set of graven commandments!
In terms of innovative formats for the Bible, lycra is possibly the strangest I've come across. In this TV satire, the superhero Bible Dude zaps both biblical interpretation and Christian culture. While I thought it was a good laugh, you can tell the scriptwriter isn't really a fan of the Bible.
Yet, it's interesting that despite such a negative take, he or she seems quite familiar with many of its characters. For those of you who are wondering, the verse referenced on the superhero's costume is from Matthew 4.20 (NIV): "At once they left their nets and followed him". Don't ask.
Bizarre. Yesterday, the BBC featured a video segment of some RE students reading from The Manga Bible. The piece was presented by Robert Piggott, the BBC's Religious Affairs Correspondent. The report gave the impression that the Manga Bible was brand new. In fact, it's been kicking around for ages.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of the Manga Bible - if it's understood as a way of stimulating interest in the sacred page. It's just strange that more groundbreaking formats of the Bible - such as for the Kindle reader - go unreported while the Manga Bible hogs the limelight.
According to the scare stories currently doing the rounds, the BBC is being 'Islamised' as we speak. A string of media commentators have come out of the woodwork, decrying the appointment of Aaqil Ahmed as the BBC's first Muslim Commissioner for Religion and Ethics.
The weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth has been of almost biblical proportions. "How is this possible?", cried Christian Concern for Our Nation. Even the BBC's in-house newspaper, Ariel, was not immune to the furore, splashing the story of the "controversial" appointment on its front page. But is the appointment of a Muslim in such a role a real cause for concern?
Many of the cinema-goers who went to see Star Trek XI this weekend have probably seen Mr Spock's famous Vulcan salute many times. But few of them are probably aware that the tricky manoeuvre is actually based upon a biblical blessing.
According to the Daily Mail, the original Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy) based the greeting on a gesture of blessing he had seen at a Jewish synagogue. And that gesture is part of the Priestly Blessing, which is described in the Bible at Numbers 6:23-26. Ironically, Nimoy even reads this verse out aloud as a narrator during the popular computer game, Civilization IV.
And as you can see above, the precursor to the Vulcan salute is even featured on a synagogue door in Essen, Germany. Also note that originally, the gesture is done with both hands - making getting it right twice as difficult. Photo: Aaron Olaf
The Metro ran a news item today that looked at the issue of sexual deviance in the Bible. Yes, you read that right. Sexual deviance. The tenor of the story was that the Bible documents a series of sex crimes - and therefore, it's not such a morally upstanding book after all.
Indian professor Anil Aggrawal took upon himself the thankless job of cataloguing the sexual deviancy referred to in the Bible. Apparently, he found everything from common or garden adultery to Rohypnol-style rape and even necrophilia. He then wrote about his research in the April issue of the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine.
But does this really mean that the Bible's moral authority is now in tatters? (Photo: Topic Agnostic)
