The Word on the Street

This story from the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Rewriting the Bible was never so hip
By Rich Copley

Genesis 1:1-2: First off, nothing ... but God. No light, no time, no substance, no matter. Second off, God says the word, and WHAP! Stuff everywhere! The cosmos in chaos: no shape, no form, no function -- just darkness ... total. And floating above it all, God's Holy Spirit, ready for action.

Not exactly the King James Bible, eh?

The verses above are from The Word on the Street, a new interpretation of the Bible by Welsh performance artist Rob Lacey.

The book is due in stores Sept. 3, from Zondervan, after a successful launch in England earlier this year.

Lacey takes familiar texts and stories and puts them in the vernacular of urban youths and young adults.

One detail of this project I've heard here for the first time is that David Trobisch has lent a hand:

Zondervan gave Lacey a "theological safety net" in David Trobisch, a New Testament language professor at Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine. He helped with the interpretation.