11 June 2009

The fastest selling audio Bible




Does this make anyone else uncomfortable?

3 comments:

Greg said...

I got a little uncomfortble at the end when they were talking about it as being "a God-breathed production" and talking about Blair Underwood "feeling waht Jesus felt" on the cross.. that stuff is crap...
I just hope that they used a good translation and stayed true to it... that's what would really concern me. If they make this Bible something less then teh Word of God by glossing to much or even subtracting parts that are not PC, etc... I would definitely be interested in taking a listen though. But I don't think I would pay to do so...

I figure if God can use me to speak His word, then something like this can probably be profitable for someone... and *if* its faithful to the written word, in spite of the likely inumerable misinterpretations that will arise from verbalizing what is written, if it gets people deeper into the word, then I am OK with it...
Just remember - when this stuff was written, there was pretty much only one copy, and the only way to hear it, was to *hear* it. One man (not 400 of course) reading it to thousands...
This is true all the way through to the Reformation when the printing press was invented.

Obviously the written word is better for study... but the ear, for most of recorded history, has been how the gospel has spread around the globe - and still is, in my opinion (and Romans 10).
:-)

Scott Pearce said...

As a matter of practice, I start from a position of rigid skepticism whenever something is billed as THE THING that will FINALLY do X, Y, or Z. The trailer for this "experience" seems to be claiming that God has finally "caught on...become relevant...or learned how to speak OUR language."

Hearing this production advertised caused me to think of our Savior's parable of the rich man and Lazarus. I can't help but paraphrase the words of Abraham at the end of the parable: "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if Denzel Washington and Common collaborate to read the New Testament."

But along the lines of recent posts by Greg, Joel, and Liz: is this much different than pastor/author 'worship?' If someone claims to only be able to worship God in spirit and in truth via satellite broadcast or by listening to Pastor Z's podcast, it's not a stretch to understand the appeal of hearing the Word of God read by the co-star of Pulp Fiction.

As a matter of curiosity, I'm interested to know what the price of the "experience" is, how much actors/singers/clergymen were compensated, and who comprises the target demographic.

Candice said...

Oooh. I'm with you. I've never seen this before. I didn't watch the whole video, but when I heard "this is making the Bible come alive in a whole new way" I was troubled. I thought the Word is already living and active...not in need of a new dramatization to make it more so. I suppose at the very least, these actors heard the Word, and maybe some others who purchase(d) it will, too.