From the UK Telegraph:
'Erotic' pictures to bring Bible back into fashion
A GLOSSY magazine-style version of the Old Testament, featuring leading models pictured by the world's leading fashion photographers, will be unveiled later this year.
Claudia Schiffer and Markus Schenkenberg are the models expected to portray Eve and Adam in a project designed to attract young people who rarely read the bible.
Gustaf-Wilhelm Hellstedt, one of four Swedish entrepreneurs behind the idea, said: "Forget those old sketches in the Bible. Instead of a boring drawing of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we may well have a couple walking down a New York street, kissing."
Who is to be pictured in the new Illuminated Bible, which will retain the traditional King James text, is being kept under wraps by the group, which trades under the name Fishtank. It has revealed, however, that its list of fashion photographers rivals that of Vogue.
Among those signed up is Paolo Roversi, who has often photographed Miss Schiffer and Madonna. The venture has been greeted with shock in some quarters. David Phillips, the general secretary of the Church Society which promotes Christianity with the Church of England said: "It sounds like a gimmick that is entirely unnecessary."
David Phillips said: "The power of God's salvation is in the gospel, not the images. The real concern is to make known what the Bible teaches, not to make it attractive." The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Michael Turnbull, cautiously welcomed the idea. Rt Rev Turnbull said: "Anything that enlivens people's interest in what a good read the Bible is, is good. But it needs doing with taste."
Michel Gyring, another member of Fishtank, said that the group had realised last year that most editions of the Old Testament had changed little since 1454 when the first Gutenberg Bible was printed. Mr Gyring said: "We had the idea to contemporise the Bible and make it accessible to 15- to 30-year olds."
Mr Hellstedt said: "Most of the models, who will earn up to £10,000 a day, will have their clothes on, but there will be some nudity because the Bible is very sensual and we are going to exploit that. We want to take the Bible off the dusty back shelf and put it on coffee tables.
The venture has elicited the interest of Virgin Publishing, although it has yet to sign a contract. Mr Hellstedt said: "We are negotiating with Virgin. We have had an offer from a Finnish publisher for about £300,000, but we are holding out for Virgin."
