'Raunchy' Bible stripped of sexual content
'Raunchy' Bible stripped of sexual content
Wed Dec 24 2008
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Sexual content in the Swedish version of Bible Illumuninated: The Book.
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Former Playboy Playmate of the Year, Victoria Silverstedt, was pulled from the US version.
(Getty)
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This image at the start of the Revelation chapter depicts the modern world.
Raunchy pictures in a modern Swedish version of the Bible have caused the book to be pulled from the shelves in the US.
Sexual content, including photos of busty Swedish model Victoria Silverstedt and of two men in a tongue-entwined embrace, have been stripped from Bible Illuminated: The Book following outrage from religious groups, Swedish newspaper The Local reports.
The 286-page glossy publication's creator Dag Soderberg has been bombarded with hate mail since this month’s release of the New Testament edition.
"It is because of cultural differences. Sex is very sensitive in the USA," Mr Soderberg was quoted as saying in Metro.
The original version was launched in Sweden in 2007 and was declared "too sensitive for the more religious US market".
But the coffee-table-style book also features images relevant to modern society, including celebrity Angelina Jolie and an American soldier reaching out to an Iraqi toddler.
The website of the publisher, Swedish firm Illuminated World, describes the book as a "fresh perspective to our history and culture" with photographs and illustrations "depicting the gospels" of the approved American Bible Society text.
Although the website specifies "we have no religious agenda and support no specific faith" the publication is promoted as "a unique vehicle for reacquainting today's reader with one of the most important historical and cultural texts ever written."
"I'm not very religious, but I do think the story is important because we are leaning on it… it's a heritage and that I respect," Mr Soderberg was quoted as saying in Los Angeles Times earlier this month.
The Old Testament version is set to be released in 2009.
news.syd.ninemsn.com.au
