The Manga Bible

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I saw this at the library and decided to give it a try. There were all the stories from the bible I remember being told to me by my mom. This manga described things in pretty good detail and there was lots of text, which is different from other manga. Manga Mutiny begins with Satan’s Rebellion in the heavens and the Creation of the world. It continues with the Fall of Man, the Flood, and the dispersing of man at Babel. The story then follows the lives of the Patriarchs, thus ending with the life of Moses and Israel’s Exodus from Egypt to the Red Sea.

This is definitely a different way to look at the classic book that almost everybody knows. Whether you are a believer or not, odds are you have read the Bible or are familiar with the major stories in it. The author and artist for this manga have come together to create what I consider an interesting interpretation. Actually, when you look at the Bible, a lot of the stories can lend themselves to the manga style treatment. The book does feature small notes with specific Bible verses for people wanting to know more. I think a strength of the book is that it can make the Bible accessible to those who might not want to read it, or who maybe thought it was too daunting. Sure, the author is selective in what is featured, but you do get the major stories and a sense of the story over time from Genesis to Revelation. If you have read the Bible, and I have, I think you may get a better appreciation for the original. This will certainly not replace the classic, but it is a different way to look at it. My bet is that fundamentalists will probably be pissed off about it and that more liberal Christians may at least give it a look.

a b c d e f g h Cutshall, Mark (Apr–May 2008). "Manga Messiah". Outcomes. Christian Leadership Alliance. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Manga Melech continues with Israel’s rebellion in the desert and the resulting wilderness journey. It then follows Israel’s conquest of Canaan, the period of the judges, and crowning of King Saul. The story then chronicles the life of David and ends with the coronation of King Solomon. To encapsulate the entire Bible in one volume of manga is a little too ambitious. The Genesis narrative was easy to follow and had enough characters to follow that it was pleasant. After Moses though, there's basically a ton of summary of all the kings and stuff. And it seems like the point of putting the Bible in visual form is that you shouldn't be summarizing a ton of stuff, but rather showing what's going on.

I also enjoyed about the way angels helped the Apostles in times of need. How I wish God still use this to release political prisoners and those in prison who are innocent of the crimes they are blamed for. I particularly liked the ending. We all know that most of the Apostles died as martyrs but it's good that the book did not detail their gruesome deaths. Instead, it showed how St. Paul became an old man and died at 63 years of age. This one got the seal of approval of Rowan Williams's predecessor George Carey, who grew up in London's East End, so must have known what he was rabbit and porking about. Most of the gospel is focused on either the stories in Old Testaments and the ministry of Jesus. Even movies and books on New Testament are about Jesus so that was probably the reason that prior to this book, I only had sketchy knowledge about St. Peter and how he lead the 12 apostles and St. Paul that used to be Saul who persecuted the early Christians. It is also through this book where I learned about St. Stephen who was the first of the seven good people chosen by the Apostles to help them. It is only through the book where I learned that St. James was the first among the 12 Apostles to die in the name of Jesus.

But how successful these versions are at doing that is another question. The makers of the Bible Illuminated claim it has increased sales of Bibles by 50% in Sweden - though we are not told over what timescale. A version that could achieve such figures in the UK would be one of the most surprising Bibles yet. The rhyming slang version of the Bible was written by Mike Coles, an RE teacher in Stepney, and started life as stories he told to his classes. In it, Jesus feeds "five thousand geezers" with "five loaves of Uncle Fred and two Lillian Gish". The Lord's Prayer morphs from "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory" to "You're the Boss, God, and will be for ever, innit?" Again, Hidenori Kumai did a wonderful job blending the text together and depicting it in such a manner that makes how dangerous spreading in what was a sect of Judaism throughout the land. Kumai may have taken some liberties here and there, plus there were some minor interpretation and some non-biblical content – it doesn't take the spirit of the text away.