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Postmodernism has
influenced Bible translation and
publishing in significant ways — none of
them good.
Brand Image is Everything
The Bible publishing industry has
followed the trends of secular product branding
and retailing. Today, the industry operates on
the premise that a Bible must have the right
brand image in order to be commercially
successful. The 21st-century philosophy of
product branding is deeply anchored in
postmodern psycho-sociology. It focuses not so
much on the functional merits of a product as on
its perceived intangible, emotional, and
experiential benefits. Product branding is
highly customer-centric and targets perceived
niche markets. Its focus is to compete
successfully for customer attention and
acceptance, and its goal is to increase market
share, revenues, and profits for the publisher.
When applied to Bible publishing,
postmodernist thinking dictates that Bibles must
be developed and marketed in ways that will
appeal to a wide range of customer tastes
identified through surveys, focus groups,
point-of-sale data, and other techniques of
cyber age marketing.
Not Translations But Abominations
Thus, modern Bible
publishing has given us Precious Moments®
Bibles. It has also given us cartoon Bibles
depicting Jesus as an action superhero. According to a February 8, 2008 article in
The Times of London (“Religious
Superheroes Come Back Fighting in a Manga
Comic Bible”), The Manga Bible
portrays John the Baptist as someone who
“looks like a bedraggled fighter from a
video game” and Jesus as “dark and moody.”
In the text, Jesus is called “the ‘badass’
that kicks everyone’s butt.” The author of
this travesty, Ajin-bayo Akinsiku, admits
that “I got into trouble with some Christian
forums for talking like that.” The Manga
Bible is the most popular cartoon book
in Great Britain, and is rapidly gaining a
following in America. Akinsiku is now
working on a new version of the Gospels
called The Manga Jesus, in which
Jesus will be “the Batman character” and the
apostles John and Peter will be his
Robin-like sidekicks, providing “humor and
light relief.” Akinsiku said, “When you have
a heavy character like Christ you need a
side-kick who softens the tone a little
bit.”
Postmodern spiritual insanity has
also given the world a cell phone text message
Bible.
Da txt msg Bible published by
the
Australian Bible Society, (mis)translates the entire
Bible into the slang and (mis)spellings of
cell-phone text messages. Genesis 1:1 reads,
“In da beginning God cre8d da heavens & da
earth.” Mark 8:36-37 (“For what shall it
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul?”)
reads, “Wat will u gain, if u own da whole
wrld but destroy urself? Wat cld u give 2
get bak ur soul?”
Taken to its worst extremes,
postmodern paganism has given the world an abomination
called The Sexed-Up Bible. Published in 2004 and endorsed by the
Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, The Sexed-Up
Bible omits God’s condemnation of
homosexuality, and encourages people to
engage in all sorts of sexual relationships
both inside and outside of marriage.
Products to be Marketed, Not the Word of God
Of course, other Bibles have been
produced that are much more worthy of the name.
But in today’s industry, Bibles are developed
and marketed primarily as products, not as the
Word of God. Even at its best, much of
21st-century Bible marketing focuses on
appealing to the very “lust of the flesh, lust
of the eyes, and pride of life” (1 John 2:16)
against which Scripture itself speaks. It
engages in fellowship with the very kingdom of
darkness from which Christians have been rescued
by their Savior (Colossians 1:12-13).
There is nothing inherently
wrong with publishing good Bibles and making
a profit. Scripture itself tells us
repeatedly that “the laborer is worthy of
his wages.” There is also nothing inherently
wrong with endeavoring to meet
legitimate customer needs. But in today’s
Bible publishing environment, in the vast
majority of cases
financial profit through appeals to the
flesh has become the primary
focus rather than disseminating God’s truth.
Various appeals to the sin nature, from the
mild to the malevolent, are more important
than pleasing the divine Author of the Book.
Next: Postmodernism's Influence on the
Evangelical Church
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