Terrible spelling and choppy, stuttering sentences no longer need to be restricted to teenagers and text messages; the Bible is now available in SMS text message format, replete with absurd spellings and, apparently, a very accessible message. The SMS Bible begins with the proclamation that “In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth.”

The Bible Society in Australia has translated the Bible and all its 31,173 verses into text messages, after six weeks of labor on the part of Mr. Michael Chant, who translated the Bible into SMS messages.

Apparently the Bible can do with a little positive marketing and image re-appraisal, as it is now also available in camouflage. “The old days when the Bible was only available within a sombre black cover with a cross on it are long gone,” stated Mr. Chant, speaking about the Bible Society in Australia’s Bible designed and tailored specifically for the nation’s armed forces.

The SMS Bible follows in the wake of the recent innovative gimmick that is the 100-Minute Bible; Reverend Michael Hinton in England has, after years of work and vicious editing, edited and published the new Bible, miniature both in content and in style, for distribution in British churches and schools. The Bishop of Jarrow, Rev. John Pritchard, served as a consultant on the book and offered a rigorously non-theological take on the 100-Minute Bible, in which all 66 books of the Christian holy text have been condensed like a literary cheat sheet.  “This is an attempt to say, ‘Look, there’s a great story here — let’s get into it and let’s not get put off by the things that are going to be the sub-plot. Let’s give you the big plot,’” was the Reverend’s sunny outlook.  
  
While Mr. Chant insists that only the spelling of the Bible, and not its language, has been changed with the SMS Bible, one wonders if something doesn’t get lost in translation.  

Mimi Hanaoka