Bibliotheca's Fundraising Campaign Is Finishing Strong
"Bibliotheca could even break the $400,000 mark," I said to the journalist on the other end of the line. "It already has," she replied, clicking the keys. That was yesterday. This morning Adam Lewis Greene's four-volume, reader-friendly edition of the Bible has passed the half million dollar mark and doesn't show signs of slacking off. The project has gone viral, too, making a popular appearance at The Verge. The Bible Gateway blog has done a good in-depth interview with Adam, too. There's no question now: the idea of an uncluttered, readable Bible resonates with a lot of people. If you want to know more about Bibliotheca, here are my earlier posts on the topic:
My initial post about Bibliotheca
My interview with Adam Lewis Greene: Part 1
My interview with Adam Lewis Greene: Part 2
My thoughts on Bibliotheca, the ESV Reader's Bible, and the future of printed Bibles.
Reader-friendly Bibles aren't a new idea. Every so often a publisher makes the attempt (going back to the original release of the New English Bible and before), yet today the concept seems to be gaining momentum in a way it never has before. I'm not sure we can articulate a list of characteristics yet that make an edition a Reader's Bible; the defining trait at this point seems to be removing verse numbers from the text. Bibliotheca does this, as does the ESV Reader's Bible. So does The Books of the Bible, which I reviewed back in 2007.
Christopher Smith compares the features of Bibliotheca and the ESV Reader's Bible to The Books of the Bible, which offers the NIV in a reader-friendly format (now available in a single volume or a four-volume set). The Books of the Bible goes farther than any other edition I'm aware of in rearranging the text to follow natural literary divisions rather than traditional chapter and verse, and Smith does a great job articulating the reasons behind these choices. He shares my optimism about the future of reader-friendly editions, too.
All the attention on reader-friendly Bibles has led to some interesting thoughts about what our experience with Scripture is meant to be. For example, I'm intrigued by Paul Sutton's post about reading the Bible aloud. When I praise this emerging category of Bibles for offering a "less mediated" read, I'm not suggesting this marks a return to the original reading experience. Rather, I love reader-friendly Bibles because they improve the experience for today's audience. I believe this is true whether we're reading silently to ourselves or reading aloud to a group (or, as I've been known to do, reading aloud to ourselves). Whenever I design a text for out-loud reading in church, I format it the way a reader's edition would be formatted: removing chapter and verse, presenting the text in a manner that is natural for reading. The importance of hearing Scripture read aloud can't be stressed too much, and I believe the new generation of reader's editions will make that practice smoother.
As the Bibliotheca campaign draws to a close this Sunday, I'll be rooting for it not only as an early backer but as someone who sees the success of Adam's project as a new chapter in the long journey to make reader's Bibles a viable alternative to sit side-by-side with the ubiquitous reference editions. This project has introduced a host of people to the design problems of the Bible who've never thought about the subject before, and more importantly, should result in a beautiful edition of the Bible which will serve as a lifelong companion to many people, and an inspiration for future publishing endeavors.
