The Bible Is Magic

Okay, so if it was not already clear enough that many Western (especially American) Christians are biblically illiterate, something else had to be developed in the world of Christendom to prove it. In a country where a new type of Bible is being developed every day, I think perhaps, that the worst type is now upon us. And as expected (Lord help us!) it is taking people by storm! It is called "The Personal Promise Bible." (I am surpised that Scott @ Scotteriology has not picked up on this yet, what with his eye for ignorant cultural fads and all--you're not dropping the ball on us are you Scott?)

Anyways, the point of this Bible is that...wait for it...it is personalized. When you order it from the publishers, they will go through the whole thing and insert your very own personal name right into the text. I went to their site and got a few examples:

Therefore if Michael is in Christ, Michael is a new creation.The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. (2 Cor. 5:17)

For Michael is His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that Michael should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)

And as he came up out of the water, the heavens were torn open and the Spirit descended on Michael like a dove (just kidding, I made that when up).

As I said before, too many people are biblically illiterate and one thing that this type of Bible suggests is that it is okay to be biblically illiterate, which leads me to another problem I have with this whole scheme: Christianity is never a merely personal thing. You do not attain spiritual gifts or salvation or anything alone--it is all in accordance with being part of the Body of Christ. For example, I have heard people say things like "Jesus died for you, just for you, and if you were the last person on earth He would do it, just for you." But really, this is not a biblical way of thinking. The Bible never implies that Christ died for one (no, He died for "all") and nowhere does it suggest that He died or would have died only for me. In fact, Christ is never spoken of as one who will come back for just one person. No, Christ died for the Church! Christ will return not for individual one but for His "whole" Church, His bride (that, of course, is plural!).

Part of the whole problem with this Personal Promise Bible is that it takes the true Bible out of context. The New Testament, for instance, was written in a collectivist setting (that is, where "group" mentality was "THE" way of thinking about the world); the first Christians and the Scripture writers were not individualists like we are today. So, to project our individualsim back on to them is incorrect; in fact, it reveals just how truly individualistic we are to want to even create or buy something like this. God forbid we learn to read the Bible in its ancient languages or even in its context, right? Let's make it as easy and as blessing-oriented for ourselves as we can; after all reading the Bible shouldn't be hard work, right, shouldn't it work just like magic?

So, I guess I'm saying: "Don't buy this Bible, in fact, don't even go anywhere near it and if you know somebody who has one, tell them (or force them) to get rid of it. By the way, I wonder if this is the official Bible of the Word of Faith Movement (e.g. Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, The Copelands, etc.)? I wouldn't be surprised if it was.