Top 12
The US magazine Christian Century (October 21, 2008) has listed the top 5 selling books from 12 different Christian book publishers. Those that rated number one are as follows:
Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after Religion by E J Dionne Jr, published by Princeton University Press
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, by Eboo Patel, published by Beacon
The Discipleship Study Bible edited by Bruce C. Birch, Brian K Blount, Thomas G Long, Gail O’Day adn W. Sibley Towner published by Westminster Knox
Promise of Paradox by Parker J Palmer, published by Jossey-Bass
Christ and Culture Revisited, by D A Carson, published by Eerdmans
God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why we Suffer by Bart D Ehrman, published by HarperOne
The Future of Atheism: Alister McGrath and Daniel Dennett in Dialogue by Robert B Stewart published by Fortress
The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch, published by Brazos
First Corinthians by Joseph A Fitzmeyer, published by Yale University Press
Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in Theology of God by Elizabeth A Johnson, published by Continuum
Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Ronald W Walker, Richard E Turley Jr and Glen M Leonard, published by Oxford university Press
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible edited by Bruce Chilton, published by Cambridge University Press
Best sellers, of course, dont necessarily stand the test of time. In the same edition of the magazine there is a delightful article about those books which have endured: it is titled A Second time Around and can be viewed here. Ten writers reflect on books they have read two, three, or more times. The article got me reflecting on the books that I have read more than once. To Kill a Mockingbird was the first that sprang to mind. The example of courage documented in the book inspires me still to care about and advocate for issues of justice. Other books I have re-read have been ones that have been poetic in their use of language and imagery – like Peter Carey’s His Illegal Self , Robert Dessaux’s Night Letters or Sonya Hartnett’s Thursday’s Child - none of which are likely to become classics. How about you? What are the books you have read and re-read?
Prime Minister meets with UCA leaders
Bruce Mullan, from the Qld Synod wrote the following about the recent meeting with the Prime Minister:
“The issues of climate change, human rights and the death penalty were among those raised when the Uniting Church met, for the first time, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 21 October.
UCA President, Rev Gregor Henderson, National Assembly General Secretary Rev Terence Corkin, and National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, Rev Elenie Poulos spent half an hour with Prime Minister Rudd, presenting him with an information pack about the Uniting Church. Included was an overview and explanation of the structure of the Church along with a copy of the Basis of Union and the 1977 Statement to the Nation.
“We spoke about who we are as the third largest church in Australia and our commitment to making a difference to the Australian community and nation,” said Mr Henderson.
“We talked about UnitingCare, Frontier Services, Uniting International Mission and Uniting Church Overseas Aid, and UnitingJustice. We talked about our multiculturalism and the importance of the Uniting Islander and Aboriginal Christian Congress.
“He spoke to us as a person of deep Christian faith. He not only has a commitment to public theology but a deep personal interest in it,” said Rev. Henderson.
“I don’t think there’s any question that we can say we have a positive relationship with the highest levels of government. That encourages us to continue to do our homework well on the national and international issues that concern us most and to know we have the avenues of further representation to the government. We don’t have any doubt whatsoever that the Prime Minister’s door is open to us.”
Bible in Vogue
The glossy coffee table tome, titled Bible Illuminated: The Book, is a bold attempt to capture the attention of modern readers. Instead of following the usual Bible format – lots of words but somewhat lacking in celebrity portraits – Swedish ad man Dag Soderberg has decided to repackage it in the style of Vogue.
Passages are written out in a magazine-style format and accompanied by striking images. Angelina Jolie’s picture is included alongside Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and U2 frontman Bono, to illustrate the importance of doing good deeds. They were selected after the publishers asked the Swedish public which famous figures in modern times represented goodness and compassion.
According to its publishers, when The Book was released in Sweden it accounted for a 50 per cent rise in the country’s Bible sales for 2007. It was initially sold in fashion boutiques, art galleries and design stores before reaching bookshops.
Soderberg insists he is not particularly religious, explaining that his motivation is to make the Bible more accessible. “Most people have issues with the Bible. They have never gotten into it. They don’t find it accessible. But it’s our history, our heritage. And for most of us, we relate to it more than we think. Religious or not, it shapes much of our moral codes,” he said.
His goal is “to make a version of the Bible that people want to pick up, instead of hide away or just place on a bookshelf.”
[Anita Singh posted by telegraph.co.uk 09 October Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2008. Read the full article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/3167018/Angelina-Jolie-Bono-and-Nelson-Mandela-feature-in-Vogue-style-Bible.html]
“In general, Bible publishers have always been creative, but now they are scrambling to meet a culture where people are moving away from print reading,” said Paul Gutjahr, an associate professor of English and adjunct associate professor in religious studies at Indiana University.
The Bible is reinvented quite often. While essentially still the same book, Gutjahr said that for the past two decades, updates were largely focused on new translations. There are also versions that come out each year that are essentially the same book, with different covers and sizes based on people’s wants. But he sees the next trend as one toward textual translation and visual translation.
“In a visually literate, advertising-skeptical age — how do you grab people’s attention?” Gutjahr asked. “Mixing the biblical text with Angelina Jolie doesn’t surprise me.”
Bible Illuminated: The Book is the creation of former advertising executives, it pairs intense photo essays — including images such as a child with a gun or beatings in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold’s II’s regime — with passages from the New Testament. It is aimed at people who might not otherwise ever read the Bible.
Illuminated World is quick to point out that they are not affiliated with any church or religion. The Swedish version was sold first in boutiques and design stores, and mainstream bookstores were hesitant to carry it initially. But as it gained popularity, the book was sold more widely and even found a strong secondary market in secular sales.
Norton said sales of “Bible Illuminated” in Sweden, where an estimated 60,000 Bibles are sold each year, reached 30,000 in its first year. They are hoping for similar success in the U.S. and plan to release the New Testament in October and potentially the Old Testament in March. In the U.S., the New Testament is already pre-selling on Amazon and Illuminated World has contracts with most major bookstores.
“We are living in the age of increased secularization and distance from traditional religion,” said Robert Hodgson, dean emeritus at the Nida Institute For Biblical Scholarship that is responsible for the translation and quality control for the American Bible Society, which licensed the rights to the Good News version of the Bible to Illuminated World.
“It’s about new points of entry in a modern world that is not ready to open its doors and windows to the traditional word,” he said.
These “gateway Bibles” — those intended for the secular crowd — seem to be the latest frontier in Bible publishing.
“Contrary to popular belief, I think most Bibles are published for people who are already in the club,” Gutjahr said. “Publishing for people who are outside the club, I don’t know how much luck there has been with that.” read more of Sarah Skidmore’s article from Associated Press here
Financial Crisis (No) Joke
The financial crisis is no joke, but here is one that comes from Bruce Mullan (UCA, QLD Synod) which did make us chuckle:
Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on HBOS in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.
In the last seven hours Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.
Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.
Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.
Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.
A Radical Vision
The NSW Moderator has implored his church to start selling its underutilised churches, manses and halls and give the proceeds to the poor and disadvantaged.
Faced with dwindling congregations and conceding the church could all but disappear in 30 years, the Reverend Niall Reid says the church should let go of its “holy, sacred spaces as beautiful as they may be” and work to establish an “underground” community of faithful that connects with the spiritually needy in pubs, on beaches and in shopping malls.
His radical vision was presented at the NSW Synod’s annual meeting last weekend and comes as the church recently valued its property assets including schools and aged care facilities at $3.9 billion. With land, the assets of the church could be double that.
Read what the Sydney Morning Herald wrote on this here
