The Brick Bible: The Complete Set Paperback – October 1, 2013

Kids love Legos, so it seems like this would be for kids. The author/builder has recreated Old and New Testament stories using Lego bricks. Unlike cutesy Noah's ark and Jonah stories that whitewash the Bible stories the author/creator actually emphasizes the areas of the Bible that tend to get ignored. He's not adding anything (well except for interpretation). The parts he puts in the Bible are there. For example, Noah gets drunk after he gets off the ark and passes out naked. That's there. His son (with raised eyebrow, I'm not sure where he got a Lego face with a raised eyebrow like this one) delights and looking at his father's naked body. That's in the Bible. It usually gets glanced over. Also, to use the same story, in the Bible kids usually are given Noah's ark story because there are lots of animals on a boat. But it's a dark story, God destroying the world. So in the Brick Bible there is a woman floating on a log trying to survive. Someone is trying to save a baby. When the ark is floating there are skeletons all over the ocean floor and when the ark lands there are skeletons on the ground. There is also a scene where a Rebekah gives birth where Jacob is holding onto Esau's heel. She's got her legs spread and there's lots of blood. So these examples are to say, do you want to explain these types of things to your child? The answer may be yes. It's a bit of satire. Noah sacrifices a giraffe (if you follow the logic of the story). The images in Revelation are literal as opposed to figurative. But you can have that conversation. I tend to think that it's a bit more honest to show the skeletons and the drowning people in the Noah story than it is to have dollish Noah and wife smiling with rosy cheeks on the ark in sunny weather. I think its better to know what's there. It isn't a cutesy, rosy cheeked kid's version of the Bible. It stays close to the text and satirizes modern interpretations of the Bible. It might be for a high school student or adult who used to love Legos. You could get it for a kid a little younger as long as you're willing to read it along with them and explain it. I first read about the Old Testament version in a religious satire magazine called The Wittenburg Door [sic]. It's really well put together and I like having the Old and New Testament together in one boxed set like this. It's two separate books.Is it for your kids? Maybe not if you're expecting a cute Bible with rosy stories for your 8 year old who loves Legos.I teach college New Testament, world religions, English, and critical thinking so I'm glad for my son to read it so we can discuss it together.

First of all, I will caution you that these are not for the faint of heart. They are graphic and show disturbing images. That being said, if you have read The Bible in its entirety you will quickly find that The Bible itself is extremely graphic and has disturbing accounts and concepts. All these bibles do is accurately display what is already in The Bible. If you don't like that, you might want to forgo these.These are very well done and I am glad I purchased these for my kids. Day have not put them down and they are constantly reading them. They are extremely engaging and my children are learning a lot. This makes Bible reading fun for them and it is on their level. They crack up when they see Harry Potter lego characters and other random legos they have at home being used. A+!

Think you know Bible stories? Think again. In this two-volume set, narrator and illustrator Brendan Powell Smith, portrays the Old and New Testament Bible stories through set pieces composed entirely of LEGO blocks and figures. It’s a diorama project on steroids. Smith’s originality, composition, and humor (the Holy Ghost is a ghost figure; Saul/Paul is seen blindly stepping onto the prongs of a rake with the handle hitting his face; the apostles doing magic tricks. See pix) invites a different – and more difficult – interpretation of these ancient tales.Smith depicts many of the traditional stories found in the Old Testament (focusing on the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges. Samuel, Kings and Job) but with a subversive twist: the murder, rape, incest, and ruthless pillaging that was left out of my many Sunday School lessons. The last third of the New Testament volume is devoted to the Revelation of John, more commonly called the Book of Revelation. The apocalyptic and fantastical vision of this work (that always had more of a Greek mythology feel for me than a scriptural one) is rendered in complex and ornate LEGO scenes. Smith’s vision is brilliantly and explosively realized in this last chapter.The sheer originality of Smith’s work earns this project 5 stars, but the execution – detailed scenes, outstanding photography, and engaging story flow – makes this translation a must-have addition to your Bible studies.