(ETH) – A report coming from the Christian Post is stating that a group has reorganized the entire King James Bible in alphabetical order for what is being deemed “a new translation” they hope will help readers uncover “new and interesting interpretations of the written word.”
The project which is called “Bible The” rewrites both the Old and New Testaments alphabetically as what is being called a larger project of reorganizing “seminal books that have had a material impact on humanity” from A to Z. The report stated that “Using a custom made piece of software, we take the entire text of a book, and reorganize it alphabetically,” says Sideline Collective, the international team of designers, writers, and programmers behind the project.
“That’s right. Each book completely reorganized from A-Z. This distills each text down to its lowest common denominator. It highlights the importance people tend to place on the order of said words – and their meaning – and allows for new and interesting interpretations of the written word, in much the same way as an abstract painting might.”
“The result is a reductionist interpretation of the text that reveals some fascinating observations,” it says, adding that data shows the Bible “skews towards a positive bias.” For example, “good” is used 720 times, “bad” only 18. “Love” is used 308 times and “hate” 87 times.
“Happy” is used 28 times, while “sad” is only used 11 times, and “life” is used 451 times, contrasting the 371 instances of “death.” Additionally, there are 94 “angels” to 55 “devils,” 96 “saints” to 48 “sinners,” and 302 “blessed” to a just three “damned.” Meanwhile, there are 269 “enemies” to 49 “friends.” According to Sideline Collective founding member Joseph Ernst who recently told CNet that the group decided to rewrite The Bible’s algorithm “so that the book can be seen and analyzed without the author’s bias.”
“By extension, we are interested in how to break those algorithms, to neuter them, so that they have less control over our lives,” Ernst said. “The seminal books from yesterday can be considered precursors to today’s algorithms. They shape humanity’s thinking, much like social media does now. So it seemed like an interesting place to investigate.” This new translation of the Bible is available as a limited-edition, 1,364-page leather-bound volume for 2,000 pounds (about $2,627), while a 1,359-page digital download sells for 10 pounds ($13).
