'Bible Illuminated': The latest Word

The book uses pop culture images to spread the gospel.
By Jessica Gelt
December 20, 2008

If God made man in his own image, then does God look anything like Arnold Schwarzenegger? That's a question you might mull over when you come across a picture of a much younger topless governator flexing in the pages of a glossy edition of the New Testament called "Bible Illuminated: The Book." ¶ Created by a group of Swedish advertising and corporate executives, "Bible Illuminated" resembles a fashion magazine except that its cover model looks a lot like the creepy white-faced Satan in Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ." Inside you'll find the text of the Good News translation of the New Testament without verse numbers, interspersed with a mixed bag of richly colored pop culture-driven photographs. ¶ Published by the Swedish firm Illuminated World, "Bible Illuminated" stands out in the ever-expanding universe of look-at-me-I'm-super-jazzy Bibles in that it's made by secular folks for secular folks. If you can get past the secular-Bible oxymoron, a couple of interesting questions arise: In this post-ironic age, are the secular beyond the reach of religious rhetoric? And if not, at what point do marketing and aesthetics entirely subsume the message of the most vaunted narrative of Western civilization?

In the book, photos of stars like Angelina Jolie and Muhammad Ali stand in stark contrast to pictures of famine and poverty in the Third World. Random images -- such as underwear draped over high heels and a kitschy "Holy Family" set of plastic dolls -- are meant to draw the reader into the text via pull-out quotes. the rest

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