Cool Hunting

No matter your religious beliefs, one thing we can probably all agree on is how laborious it is to read the Bible. A Swedish outfit called Illuminated World hopes to change that notion by creating Bible Illuminated, a relevant version of the historical book. Set in magazine format, the New Testament publication includes the same time-honored stories paired with photos that conceptualize how they relate to our modern day problems.

One of the best examples of how they've made the Bible hip is the book of Mark, whose theme surrounds God sending a messenger to open the way and portrays Jesus as a man of action. Between the stories of Jesus healing a paralyzed man or healing a boy with an evil spirit are today's goodwill ambassadors, such as Al Gore, Angelina Jolie, Bono, and Bill Gates, who have worked hard to raise awareness of the problems in Africa or teach us about the effects of global warming and pollution.

With a goal to drive an emotional reaction and get people to think, rather than verses there is running text over a provocative image, forcing you to understand we can all still relate to the classic stories. Like in the book of Romans, where we are reminded about the importance of not judging others, with a photo of a woman pulling the leg off of a cooked duck.

Originally in Swedish, the English version is now available at Amazon or Powell's and the Old Testament is in the works.

More images after the jump.