Monthly Archives: July 2009

‘Defacing the Bible’ versus ‘Talking Back’

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News that the Bible is being ‘defaced’ at a Glasgow museum in the name of art has understandably, sparked an outcry. An exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), called Made in God’s Image, features a Bible where gay and transgendered people are encouraged to ‘write their way back in’ if they feel excluded. Not surprisingly, perhaps, people have scribbled obscenities in the featured Bible.

The artist responsible for the exhibit, Anthony Schrag, worked in co-operation with a gay Christian group to get the project going. The rather naive church in question, The Metropolitan Community Church, has now been left somewhat red-faced over the incident. But Schrag has defended his exhibit, saying, “Are those who say they are upset offended by the things that people write, or just by the very notion that someone should write on a Bible?”. (Photo: Vernon Dutton)

It’s a good question. The things written (including remarks about God being a fascist) are offensive. And encouraging people to express negativity – rather than thoughtful responses – is a provocative and unhelpful gesture.

There is absolutely nothing wrong, in my view, with writing in the Bible – if the reader is engaging with the text in a thoughtful, respectful way. There is a long history of people ‘talking back’ to the Bible by writing thoughts in it. In the Middle Ages, it was called ‘glossing’ the text.

JS Bach scribbled notes in his copy of the Bible. One of those was against 1 Chronicles 25.6, where he wrote: ‘This chapter is the true foundation of all God-pleasing church music’. Florence Nightingale (pictured above) often wrote in her Bible – and sometimes critically. Nevertheless, she engaged with it thoughtfully, even writing next to Genesis 45.5: ‘God did send me to preserve life’. Interestingly, there is scholarly speculation that Nightingale may have been a lesbian.

If this was true (and we have no way of knowing), then far from feeling excluded from the Bible, here is an example of a LGBT person who actually felt empowered by it. A far more constructive solution, in my view, would have been to encourage people to take inspiration from the Bible to improve our world - instead of encouraging them to moan.

Jesus Christ Superstar: Undervalued Kitsch

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This week, I’ve been doing some research on the influence that the Bible had had on stage and screen. You can forget Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat, the rock opera that I now believe is an underrated classic is Jesus Christ Superstar. My one flashback memory from childhood of the film (never saw the stage show) is everyone getting on the bus after the crucifixion.

I was clearly too young to appreciate the true value of what I had been watching. With its up-tempo numbers and quirky casting, Jesus Christ Superstar is a great example of biblical entertainment. And I can guarantee you that if you watch the clip above, the song will be in your head all day long.

 

Brits ‘shelve’ rather than know the Bible

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I’ve just got round to having a proper look at the preliminary findings of the National Biblical Literacy Survey. The survey was released by the Centre For Biblical Literacy and Communication at Durham University and was discussed on the Sunday programme and in The Independent earlier in the week.

While three quarters of Brits own a Bible, it seems that it stays on the shelf. The survey revealed very low levels of biblical literacy. Not surprisingly, very few could name the Ten Commandments. Most surprisingly, however, 57% had no idea about the story of Joseph and his brothers while 60% were clueless about the parable of the Good Samaritan. And people tended to be more familiar with the New than the Old Testament.

So those are the headlines. But what does this mean? The rather strange leaking of only some of the findings at this point has left many questions unanswered. Do British people actually like the Bible? What is their attitude towards it? Do they think it has any continued relevance? Fortunately, I have some of the answers to this. (Photo: GeoWombats)

A focus group survey about the Bible that I commissioned in 2006 covered some of this ground. Granted, it was only a qualitative survey, but we did interview people in both London and Manchester, as well as people of different age groups and social grades. Plus, we spoke to people who didn’t go to church, rather than committed Bible-bashers.

The respondents told us that yes, they did own a copy of the Bible, but again, they didn’t read it. Why not sling it out, then, asked our researcher? The interviewees shuddered at this thought. Somehow, they placed a psychological value placed on owning a Bible. That didn’t stop them seeing the Bible as a dusty old-fashioned book that they struggled to relate to, but they wanted it in the house nonetheless.

However, when they were presented with modern-language Bibles and asked for their views, to our surprise, their eyes lit up. A Bible in easy-to-understand English, without a scary leather cover, was something of a novelty. They related to this idea of a Bible much better. Somehow, they had mentally associated the word ‘Bible’ with the old-fashioned King James Version – a version only read by 8% of churchgoers in any case.

Our findings were complemented by some research last year by the Catholic Biblical Federation. Their research showed that while only 36% of Brits thought that the Bible was easy to read, 75% agreed that its contents were ‘interesting’. Not only that, 60% believed that it should be taught in schools as a literary classic.

It seems, therefore, that this is part of the answer. Brits are happy to be made more aware of the contents of the Bible – but want to read it in modern English and in easy-to-digest formats. They also want it to be presented in a more hands-off way; i.e. as a cultural classic rather than a religious text that they must believe in – or else. Alarmingly, few schools currently take this approach. And as the former Poet Laureate Andrew Motionremarked recently, that has got to change.