The Brick Testament

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Spurling with a copy of the Brick Bible.
Light iron-age reading
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The Brick Testament is an ongoing project created by Elbe Spurling[note 1] in 2001. It is the largest, most comprehensive illustrated Bible in the world, featuring over 4500 images and more than 400 stories.[1] Not every book in the Bible is included; for example, it's missing a few epistles and some books from minor prophets, but all the big players are here, such as Genesis and Revelation, and it has plenty of material from the Old Testament, such as the Books of Kings, Books of Samuel, and Joshua.

There are two versions. The original version is called "The Brick Testament"; all the illustrations have their own web pages, and it's kept around as a legacy version. The new The Brick Bible version features the same material, but it also has some parts from Daniel and Jonah, and stories are shown in a comic-book style slideshow where speech bubbles and text buttons pop up on a timer, so you can enjoy some light Iron Age reading hands-free. There are also print versions, with line of books tailored for the kiddies.

And the cool part is, its illustrations are depictions assembled out of Lego®. Some of them really cast the Bible in an new light, offer an unique interpretation of events, or even get a little snarky.

  • "On Anger and Insults" points out that if Jesus says people who call others fools deserve hellfire, then by his own standard, Jesus should go to hell since he's called the Pharisees fools quite a few times.[2] In fact, many of the illustrations categorized under "The Teachings of Jesus" point out JC's hypocrisy and flaws in his teachings.
  • On a similar note, Deuteronomy 13:1-6 and its advice on false prophets are illustrated with Jesus's own miracles and death.[3]
  • Gog and Magog as a futuristic city imported from 50s sci-fi.[4] Lego fans might get a kick out of all the Classic Space torso parts on display.
  • The third Horseman of the Apocalypse (the one usually called "Famine") as a corporate executive.[5] Zing!
  • Revelation 12:7 is already super metal. How can you make a battle between an army of angels and a galaxy-sized dragon with its own army of evil angels even more metal? Why, add guns and cannons of course![6]
  • Revelation 7:4 being depicted with...uncomfortably Holocaust-like imagery.[7] And in case that wasn't Godwinian enough for you, the ones for Romans 13:1, Romans 9:14, and Luke 9:27 are far more overt with it.[8][9][10]
  • A pretty practical reason for not following 1 Corinthians 14:34 ("Let your women keep silence in the churches").[11]

Other examples are just plain funny:

  • Following Matthew 18:8 will apparently turn you into a pirate.[12]
  • The Brick Testament has the true literalist interpretion of "God raised..." in Judges.[13] Likewise with "To this day..." in Joshua.[14][15]
  • David apparently invented the "yo mama" joke.[16]
  • Stoning a couple on their wedding is awful, but The Brick Testament does find a way to inject some dark comedy into a dark verse.[17]
  • You know how 1 Samuel 28:1 has Saul visit a place called Endor? It refers to the village rather than the moon from Return of the Jedi here, but as a nod to the film, there's a Ewok head in the background of the illustration for 1 Samuel 28:9.[18] The two guys that accompany Saul also have the torsos and heads used in LEGO's previous minifigure versions of Luke Skywalker.
  • Luke 6:17-35's lessons on love and forgiveness are depicted with...George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden? Also, Dubya apparently has two mistresses[19] and is in league with Big Oil execs, who all have evil mustaches.[20]

The site goes out of its way to point out sex and violence you don't usually associate with the Bible and many of the less savory biblical scenes, such as The Iron Chariots.[21] For more fun, read some of the negative online reviews of this book on Amazon, and you'll find that Christians are shocked — shocked! — at graphic Lego depiction of some scenes of their Holy Book (tl;dr), and are also indignant that an atheist would do this.

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Formerly known as Brendan Smith, as of 2015, she is known as Elbe Spurling, "a blue-haired transgender, lesbian, atheist artist". She continues to use Brendan Smith as her pen name.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ The Brick Testament About
  2. ↑ On Anger and Insults (Matthew 5:22, Luke 11:42, 40, Matthew 23:17), The Brick Testament
  3. ↑ False Prophets, The Brick Testament
  4. ↑ God Burns Remaining Humans to Death (Revelation 20:8), The Brick Testament
  5. ↑ God Tortures, Kills Billions (Revelation 6:5-6), The Brick Testament
  6. ↑ Satan Thrown to Earth (Revelation 12:7), The Brick Testament
  7. ↑ 144,000 Jews Saved (Revelation 7:4), The Brick Testament
  8. ↑ On Authority (Romans 13:1), The Brick Testament
  9. ↑ On Justice (Romans 9:14), The Brick Testament
  10. ↑ On Love (Luke 9:27), The Brick Testament
  11. ↑ On Women (1 Corinthians 14:34), The Brick Testament
  12. ↑ On Self-Mutilation (Matthew 18:8), The Brick Testament
  13. ↑ God Sells Israelites Into Slavery (Judges 3:9), The Brick Testament
  14. ↑ Massacre of Jericho (Joshua 6:25)
  15. ↑ Family Stoned, Burned (Joshua 7:26), The Brick Testament
  16. ↑ David's Strong Men (2 Samuel 23:9), The Brick Testament
  17. ↑ On Divorce (Matthew 5:32), The Brick Testament
  18. ↑ Saul and the Necromancer (1 Samuel 28:9), The Brick Testament
  19. ↑ On Love (Luke 6:32), The Brick Testament
  20. ↑ On Love (Luke 6:33), The Brick Testament
  21. ↑ Iron chariots
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