The Visual Word

Saturday, January 13, 2007

The Brick Testament and the Rev Brendon Powell Smith

The Brick Testament is an interesting site which tells many of the narratives which are not found in the Sunday School Curriculum. The scope of stories found in this site reminds us that the package of stories offered to to our kids through the "canned curricula" offered by publishing houses often selectively edit out important narratives. That being the case, how do our children understand the full counsel of the Lord (Acts 20)?

On the other hand, the way the stories are told lend themselves to criticism. First of all the use of Lego Brick characters can be problematic. You see, Jesus is really ObiWan Kenobi in the Star Wars series and John the Baptist, Hagrid in the Harry Potter series. The narrative associations made by kids distract and thus add "noise" to the Biblical story.

Second, if you notice, this site provides ratings. N = nudity, S = sexuality, C = cursing and V = violence. While I would be the first to agree that Biblical narratives (esp from the Old Testament) have a certain degree of sex and violence, the specific portrayal in the Brick Testament often leaves nothing to the imagination. What? How nude, sexual, violent, curse filled can the site be? Well, you check it out for yourself and come to your own conclusion. For that reason, I find this site more useful for clarifying points in the Biblical narrative rather than for use as illustration.
Scene from Judges 9

URL: http://www.thebricktestament.org

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