Attention Deficit

I find myself in somewhat of a quandary when it comes to the story of the heavily edited/abridged “100-minute bible” (helpfully described on TV this morning as “The Ronseal Bible” – it does what it says on the cover) and my response to it.

While I would never refer to myself as a Christian (even the concept of that one should have some readers wetting themselves with laughter) I have actually read the Bible from cover to cover. Hey, I was bored, what can I say? Mind you, I’ve also read the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, and a couple of other major texts in a similar vein. I know that puts me in a minority, but I don’t mind – at the time I wanted to read them, and see what all the fuss was about, along with balancing out all the biggies at once. Sad, but true.

Anyway, I find myself wondering about the purpose of this 100-Minute bible. Basically, it’s “the good bits” or “the relevant bits” while getting rid of all that guff about who begat who and why. But what’s the point? If you weren’t going to read the Bible anyway, this abridged edition isn’t likely to change your mind. If you’re of Christian mind anyway (some, less charitable than I, would say this was a tautology – but I won’t be that harsh) then you’re more likely to want to have the full thing, rather than Bible-‘lite’.

Somehow, I just don’t see it being the next “Harry Potter”, with people sitting on the train reading the thing “because it’s easier to read than that big full version”. I could be wrong, but there we go.