GQ Magazine has caught backlash for including the Holy Bible in a list of books that aren’t worth reading, in its latest edition which has ironically been dubbed the ‘Style Bible’ on its cover.
The men’s magazine included the religious text at number 12 in a list of 20 books, total, with a write-up on why ‘you don’t have to read’ it by author Jesse Ball, published on Thursday.
Calling the Bible ‘repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned,’ Ball recommended The Notebook by Agota Kristof, instead.
Supporters of the Bible voiced their upset over social media, calling the lifestyle magazine ‘irrelevant’ and a ‘total disgrace to the Christian community.’
GQ Magazine has caught backlash for including the Holy Bible in a list of books that aren’t worth reading, in its latest edition which has ironically been dubbed the ‘Style Bible’
Twitter user David D said he would not be buying anymore GQ magazines thanks to the story
Twitter user Gary L Bauer wrote: ‘The Bible is God’s Word that has transformed lives, changed nations and saved souls. GQ magazine is today’s fashion statement that at this very moment is turning to dust. God’s word is eternal.’
Ball’s critique foreshadowed the sort of response bias his commentary generated.
‘The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it,’ he wrote.
‘Those who have read it know there are some good parts, but overall it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever produced.’
Jesse Ball, the author of the critique of the Bible in the GQ piece, is a New York native who has written 14 books, with work that has been translated into more than one dozen languages
A Twitter user by the name of Brian Houston wrote: ‘Wow. What a way for GQ to show this irrelevance. The bible is way more hip than GQ’
Ball went on to suggest the cruelty depicted throughout the Bible may be its best feature.
‘If the thing you heard was good about the Bible was the nasty bits, then I propose Agota Kristof’s The Notebook,a marvelous tale of two brothers who have to get along when things get rough,’ he wrote.
‘The subtlety and cruelty of this story is like that famous sword stroke (from below the boat) that plunged upward through the bowels, the lungs, and the throat and into the brain of the rower.’
‘If the thing you heard was good about the Bible was the nasty bits, then I propose Agota Kristof’s The Notebook,a marvelous tale of two brothers who have to get along when things get rough,’ Ball wrote
Twitter user Gary L Bauer wrote: ‘The Bible is God’s Word that has transformed lives, changed nations and saved souls. GQ magazine is today’s fashion statement that at this very moment is turning to dust. God’s word is eternal’
Franklin Graham, the President of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, took issue with Ball’s synopsis.
The Christian Broadcasting Network quoted him as saying:
‘Maybe the GQ editors need to read it again. The subject of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is Jesus Christ.’
Another Twitter user by the name of Brian Houston wrote: ‘Wow. What a way for GQ to show this irrelevance. The bible is way more hip than GQ.’
Despite the uproar from religious individuals, at least some thought there was no harm in the article.
One Twitter user, in fact, thought the published comments didn’t go far enough, writing:
‘Personally I think they are being too kind.’
Franklin Graham, the President of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, took issue with Ball’s synopsis
One Twitter user thought the published comments didn’t go far enough, calling the write-up by Ball ‘too kind’
The roundup included a wide range of writing that contributors thought readers could do without, each with suggestions for replacements on readers’ bookshelves.
The Bible technically came in at number 12, but really ranked one spot higher because ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain’ was included twice by two separate contributors, making the list at nine and 10.
Ball, the author of the critique, is a New York native who has written 14 books, with work that has been translated into more than one dozen languages.
The Bible technically came in at number 12, but really ranked one spot higher because ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain’ was included twice by two separate contributors, making the list at nine and 10