Bitemybible

Sixty Second Bible

If ever you've wanted to get an overview of the Bible but are really pushed for time, then Bible in a minute by comedy duo Barats and Bereta will be a real godsend.

A Turn Up for the Books?

  There have been major headlines all around the world today about the apparent discovery of one of King Solomon's copper mines. A team led by Thomas Levy of the University of San Diego has uncovered evidence of a copper production centre south of the Dead Sea, which is thought to have been in operation during the reign of the biblical King Solomon. The find has been heralded as a surprising confirmation of the Bible's accuracy. But is it? Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd

Flip-flops in Eden

Both thelondonpaper and The Mirror have featured Gisele Bundchen's new 'save the rainforest by buying stunning sandals' advert. Styled as Eve in Eden, Bundchen stripped off to promote Ipanema sandals, who have pledged to donate part of their profits to save the Atlantic Rainforest. I like the way they've blended a social cause, effective marketing, biblical imagery - and an attractive model. And good on them. After all, the story is that Adam and Eve were not settled in Eden to trash it but to take care of it (Genesis 2:15). Photo: W/Brasil

The Politics of the Passion

It seems that some of my comments on Mark Thompson’s Theos lecture last week have caused a bit of a stir. Several bloggers firmly grasped onto the wrong end of a very big stick and to date, show no signs of letting go. I was even accused by Mark Page of the Bible Films blog of having an ‘outburst’, which amused me no end.

I dared to question Mark Thompson's claim during the lecture that the BBC programme The Passion was "faithful to the gospel narrative". And I said that the programme "shamelessly promoted the 'vision theory' of the resurrection of Jesus without an awareness of the flaws of this approach". Essentially, this is the idea that the reason that Jesus looked different after the resurrection was because it wasn’t really Jesus. People were just having visions of a Jesus-like character.

Several bloggers weighed in, including the respected Mark Goodacre (who was an advisor to the programme), to argue that The Passion was more even-handed than I was giving it credit for.

Lov yu nieba laik ou yu lov yuself

Encouragingly, there has been widespread coverage this week of the translation of the Bible into the Jamaican language of patois. This even included a feature today at the tail end of the BBC Today Programme.

The new translation is being drafted by the Bible Society as part of its drive to produce a version of the Bible in all of the world's 6000 languages.

The project has caused controversy because some people have the mistaken idea that patois is a slang form of English rather than a language in its own right.

But the Reverend Courtney Stewart, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of the West Indies (pictured), explained: "Patois defines us. It is instinctively Jamaican. If God speaks my language then he communicates with me - where I am. It is crucial."

'The BBC is anti-God'

According to Mark Thompson, that's what his mother said to him in 1979 when he announced that the Beeb had given him a job. And if he's to be believed, this is no longer the case, if in fact it ever was.

At a talk held by the public theology thinktank Theos last night, the Director General of the BBC spoke about faith, morality, the media - and how journalists should 'be themselves'. Photo: rsambrook

The Brangelina Bible

I blogged earlier in the year about The Book, the new high-end magazine style Bible. Now it transpires that the creators are going to feature a picture of Angelina Jolie, as well as other celebs, in its glossy pages. Angelina will be featured as an example of good works, given that she has set up a charity foundation with her partner Brad Pitt and is a UN goodwill ambassador.

People may scoff, but whoever said that the Bible always had to be presented like a solemn tome? And in my view, the Bible is all for publicity stunts. After all, the prophet Isaiah walked the streets naked for three years to draw attention to his message. Photo: knk cat

The Bible, but not as we know it?

A feature broadcast on BBC Radio 4 today and also covered in the BBC’s magazine, cast serious doubt upon the authenticity of the Bible. Using the digitisation of Codex Sinaiticus as a news hook, it alleged that the Bible has been so altered over the years that the original text is impossible to ascertain.

While proper debate on the subject is entirely to be encouraged, no space was made during the piece for a range of views. The programme over-relied on David Parker (who is working on the codex) and Bart Ehrman (a textual scholar) as expert spokesmen. This is despite the fact that Ehrman’s views in particular have been widely critiqued. None of these critiques were present in the broadcast in the interests of fairness or objectivity and no contra views were included. What were included, however, were factual errors. Photo: humancarbine

Textbook Cases

I've often thought of the Bible as a compendium of interesting psychological cases - and now it seems I'm not the only one. The latest edition of the British Journal of Psychiatry includes an article about personality disorders mentioned in the biblical book of Proverbs.

It seems that 2500 years before the American Psychiatric Association published its influential manual on psychiatric disorders, the Bible had already charted a good number of then. Highlights include narcissists, psychopaths and borderline alcohol-dependents. Also check out this paper on whether the prophet Ezekiel was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Photo: James Nash