DAVID ADAMS looks at The Bible Project…
This US produced site is all about an exploration of the big themes of Bible through a series of short animated videos which, rather than narrowing in on just a few verses, take a big picture look at the Word by tackling the overarching themes of an entire book (or a decent chunk of a book) or even a theme that runs through the entire Bible. The project – which its creators say doesn’t come from a particular denominational perspective and express the hope that people from all backgrounds, whether religious or not, will find value in it – originated when two longtime friends and Bible college room-mates, Timothy Mackie, a pastor and adjunct professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Western Seminary in Portland, and Jonathan Collins, who has a background as a pastor and digital communication expert and who now works on The Bible Project fulltime, started tossing around the idea of visually presenting the Bible. They went live with their first couple of videos in 2014 and the site now hosts scores of them. Financed primarily through a crowd-funding model (and hence freely available to all – donations very much appreciated), The Bible Project is, they stress, a community endeavour involving “artists, illustrators, designers, supporters and prayer warriors”. The videos can be watched in situ on the site or downloaded to watch later and many are accompanied by a study guide and a beautifully designed poster (which can be downloaded freely or you can buy hard copies of both). There’s some 40 videos on Old Testament books and more than 20 on New Testament books as well as other videos exploring such grand Biblical themes such as ‘The Messiah’ or the ‘Image of God’. It’s a creative resource for someone looking to understand or trying to explain some of the big picture ideas contained within the Bible. Ideal for use by small groups or even entire churches.
