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Hello, all.
I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
stories from the book of Genesis.
http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
Enjoy,
-The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
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In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> Hello, all.
>
> I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> stories from the book of Genesis.
>
> http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
Hey Reverend - your Brick Testament is brilliant! Not only the stories
themselves but the whole presentation is excellent. I enjoyed the heckoutta
of it and I'll be sending some reprobate friends of mine to your site for a
little Bible learning LEGO-style.
I'm glad you included the "Sons of God" story. This was always one of those
tales that those little old ladies teaching Sunday School could never quite
completely explain to me. Since it didn't mesh with the rest of the program
it was usually just quickly skipped over so that they could get to the
important stuff - like taking up another offering.
Personally, I can't wait until you get up to II Kings chapter 2 for my
favorite O.T. story - the one where some kids-being-kids make fun of the
prophet Elisha's bald head and so he curses them "in the name of the Lord"
and then calls up two bears from the woods to rip forty-two of the little
scamps to shreds.
Keep up the good work!
Greg
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In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> Hello, all.
>
> I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> stories from the book of Genesis.
>
> http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
>
> Enjoy,
>
> -The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
>
> PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
> might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
> rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
I love it!!!!!! SO COOL! Is the Kaadu in the Garden like the unicorn??
forgotten? Which version of the Bible are you using? My guess is KJV. I say
this is really cool. I am eager to see the New Testament and Revelations. I
wonder how you will tackle Jabez too :-P I like how you used red trans tiles
for blood. Tall ark (I am typing as I read). I like how everyone plops down
dead. "...then he died *plop!*". overall. real nice!!!
Rick
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Do you think having Jar Jar in the garden of Eden has anything to do with Adam's
downfall? Maybe he is just back luck? :)
( http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament/garden_of_eden/gn02_19-20.html )
I also liked how Noah is upset about the change in project requirements late in
the production phase.
( http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament/the_flood/gn07_01-02.html )
Anyway, I love these pictures! The story is cool but the pictures are awesome.
You could be a professional Idea Book photographer. Care to share your
technique?
-Alfred
In lugnet.build.ancient, Rick Hallman writes:
> In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> > Hello, all.
> >
> > I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> > have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> > the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> > stories from the book of Genesis.
> >
> > http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
> >
> > Enjoy,
> >
> > -The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
> >
> > PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
> > might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
> > rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
>
> I love it!!!!!! SO COOL! Is the Kaadu in the Garden like the unicorn??
> forgotten? Which version of the Bible are you using? My guess is KJV. I say
> this is really cool. I am eager to see the New Testament and Revelations. I
> wonder how you will tackle Jabez too :-P I like how you used red trans tiles
> for blood. Tall ark (I am typing as I read). I like how everyone plops down
> dead. "...then he died *plop!*". overall. real nice!!!
>
> Rick
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Alfred Speredelozzi writes:
> Do you think having Jar Jar in the garden of Eden has anything
> to do with Adam's downfall? Maybe he is just back luck? :)
Maybe so, maybe so. @8^)
Did you spot his other cameo appearance?
> I also liked how Noah is upset about the change in project
> requirements late in the production phase.
Noah had it tough -- of course, not as tough as the thousands (millions?) of
his contemporaries who died in The Flood, but still.
I decided to put any such non-Biblical dialogue or thought bubble text I
threw in there in gray text to differentiate it from the rest, which is
straight quoting from the source. Tried to keep it as "real" as possible.
> Anyway, I love these pictures! The story is cool but the
> pictures are awesome.
Thanks! Well, I can take some credit for the photography, but if you have
problems with the story, you'll have to take it up with the man upstairs.
> You could be a professional Idea Book photographer. Care to
> share your technique?
Again, thanks. I used a Nikon Coolpix 950 digital camera. First of all,
the best thing is that with a digital camera I can take 30 attempts at each
photo and later pick from the best of the shoot. Also it's got a very handy
"macro" focus setting for focusing on things that are extremely close to the
lens. It also puts everything else in the background into a nice
out-of-focus haze, so you can have a busy background scene, but still have
the focus on one thing in the foreground.
I took the Garden of Eden set out on to my porch to shoot it in natural
lighting. This had some nice effects, but it wasn't practical to shoot
everything outside, so most of it is indoor photography. No special
lighting, just making sure I had adequte lighting for the area.
The cloudy blue sky background seen in many of the photos is just two pieces
of posterboard with a cloud pattern printed on them. I just happened to
have them lying around the house, but it works pretty well. I did have to
do a bit of work in Paint Shop Pro to patch up some ugly spots here and
there, like where the two pieces of posterboard come together, etc.
Finally, I was aided by a feature of ACDSee called "auto levels" which I
find can almost always improve the colors, brightness, and constrast of any
given photo.
That's about it. I like to think I'm a decent photographer, but it
certainly helps to have the right equipment and software.
Take care,
-The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
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>
> Finally, I was aided by a feature of ACDSee called "auto levels" which I
> find can almost always improve the colors, brightness, and constrast of any
> given photo.
Woo hoo! Another ACDSee user! I love that program--best of all, it's
pretty simple, it's free to download (3 month trial), and it's only 50 bucks
for the full version--I use it quite a bit..
-Scott Lyttle
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Rick Hallman writes:
> I love it!!!!!! SO COOL! Is the Kaadu in the Garden like the unicorn??
> forgotten?
I imagine so. @8^)
There are a number of animals in the garden that didn't make it past The
Flood. I mean, when did you think all the dinosaurs lived?
> Which version of the Bible are you using? My guess is KJV.
95% of the time I am quoting from The New Jerusalem Bible: Reader's Edition,
which I find usually has fairly accurate translations that are nicely put
into readable modern English. I also used a website which can instantly
compare about ten other Bible tranlastions of any given passage. Out of
those others, I would occasionally use bits from the New Living Testament.
Also my girlfriend, who speaks/reads Hebrew, directly translated some
passages from the Hebrew text for me now and then. But as I said, it's
almost all directly from the NJB:RE.
The King James Version has way too many 'doth', 'saith', and 'thou's for my
liking. It was probably the best English translation at the time, but it
comes across as so very dated nowadays.
> I say this is really cool.
I say thank you. @8^)
> I am eager to see the New Testament and Revelations. I
> wonder how you will tackle Jabez too :-P
I was originally going to skip around a lot more, doing OT and NT stroies at
the same time, but I got on sort of a Genesis kick. Not sure just yet where
I'll go from here, but I look forward to lots more stories from both volumes.
> I like how you used red trans tiles for blood.
Thanks. I first saw that idea in someone's (sorry, I forget who's) display
on Brickshelf where they had a shark attacking a swimmer at a beach. Good
stuff.
> Tall ark (I am typing as I read). I like how everyone plops down
> dead. "...then he died *plop!*". overall. real nice!!!
Of course it's tall. How else will the giraffes fit? I think there's a
quote I didn't use in the story about the ark having 3 decks, so that's what
I went for. Plus I wanted to use all my sculpted brown bricks. @8^)
Thanks for all the comments,
-The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
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In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> Hello, all.
>
> I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> stories from the book of Genesis.
>
> http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
>
> Enjoy,
>
> -The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
Words fail me, that is one of the most impressive uses of Lego I have ever seen.
Thanks,
George
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In lugnet.build.ancient, George Haberberger writes:
> In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> > Hello, all.
> >
> > I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> > have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> > the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> > stories from the book of Genesis.
> >
> > http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
> >
> > Enjoy,
> >
> > -The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
>
> Words fail me, that is one of the most impressive uses of Lego I have ever seen.
>
> Thanks,
>
> George
I can only second that remark. Impressive stuff!
Mark -remembering sunday schools again - de Kock
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Brendan,
> I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> stories from the book of Genesis.
>
> http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
>
> Enjoy,
>
> -The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
Wow, that is really impressive. Excellent work. Definately a first here on
LUGNET, I belive. There are certainly some things I would like to see how
you will translate : ) , but it is an excellent begininng.
> PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
> might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
> rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
Indeed. Good way to handle it. I just kept hitting the next button, so I
didn't see all the warnings until the end. You might want to stop it after
each chapter so you see the warnings or something like that. A few I went,
woah! : )
Scott S.
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> Brendan,
>
>
> > I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> > have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> > the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> > stories from the book of Genesis.
>
> > PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
> > might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
> > rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
>
> Indeed. Good way to handle it. I just kept hitting the next button, so I
> didn't see all the warnings until the end. You might want to stop it after
> each chapter so you see the warnings or something like that. A few I went,
> woah! : )
>
> Scott S.
I did the same thing, but hitting next at the end of the story got me back
to the story index page. I imagine that is what you intended, right?
Great, great stories and presentation. You have nicely captured the
savagery, and utter illogic, of the early old-testament stories. I
especially liked the people drowning in the flood (the woman with the funny
looking baby? I rolled), the burning duck, the Gate of the Garden of Eden
shut against Adam and Eve, and your treatment of the 'sons of God' passage.
Did you really have to show Adam and Eve boinking though?
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Scott Sanburn writes:
> Indeed. Good way to handle it. I just kept hitting the next button, so I
> didn't see all the warnings until the end. You might want to stop it after
> each chapter so you see the warnings or something like that. A few I went,
> woah! : )
@8^) Good idea, Scott, thanks.
I've changed it so now at the end of each story, the 'next' button takes you
back to the index page where you can see the warnings for each story.
Thanks for the compliments. I'll send a note when I add more stories.
-The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
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In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
> PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
> might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
> rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
To heck with that disclaimer! I'm not exactly a man of faith, and I think
the site was wonderfully done regardless. Congratulations on a great
execution of a complex subject! 8^)
Dave!
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Too much, too funny!
I wanted to shout "Hey Cain, fix that smug, superior guy with the beard!"
Might not be what you had in mind, but ...
Great stuff man!
Ronan
In lugnet.build, Brendan Powell Smith writes:
> Hello, all.
>
> I have embarked on a mammoth new project: interpreting the Bible in LEGO. I
> have plans for both Old and New Testament stories, but decided to start from
> the very beginning. I present to you the first fruits of my labor, six
> stories from the book of Genesis.
>
> http://www.thereverend.com/brick_testament
>
> Enjoy,
>
> -The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
>
> PS. Due to the fact that this is the Bible, there is some content which
> might not be suitable for all viewers. I have given each story it own
> rating for possible objectionable content. See site for details.
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