Ever feel uncomfortable carrying your leather Bible around? Now you don’t have to. The Book is a glossy, magazine-style version of the New testament filled with modern images to illuminate the ancient text. Everything from Coca-cola to Angelina Jolie, all in your New testament–the Good News translation or TEV.
Dag Soderberg, former marketing guru and former CEO of one of the largest advertising firms in Scandinavia, is the visionary behind this project. Soderberg says the aim of this edgy Bible is to get non-readers to read the Bible. He notes that the text is more powerful than the church. Is there agenda? They claim no agenda and write:
“The goal is to drive an emotional reaction and get people to think, discuss and share. It’s meant to trigger bigger moral questions. It in turn will help people to understand the common heritage between all religions through the Bible’s text. We hope people will find the images, design and layout intriguing—intriguing enough to talk about the actual stories in the Bible and what the morals and lessons mean to them and to each other.“
Ten percent of Stockholm turned out for the release of The Book. Bible sales in Sweden increased by 50%. Director of Marketing for The Book points out that “smart, educated, urban influencers, young, who know in their heart of hearts that they should probably have read the Bible but never have.”
It appears that Soderberg’s impetus isn’t evangelism; it’s moralism and education. To discuss and learn the morals of the Bible, to learn our history, to be touched by its message. Other literary texts are scheduled to undergo similar publication. Will you be picking up a copy?
You can preview The Book here and order it from Amazon and read an NPR interview here.