c. 2008 Religion News Service

Goliath done in by a hangover, new book says

LONDON (RNS) Goliath is a depressed binge drinker done in by a nasty hangover, and Adam drools over Eve’s curvaceous figure. And forget that stable business _ Mary gives birth to Jesus in an overcrowded house.

At least, that’s how an Anglican vicar, the Rev. Robert Harrison, sees some of the Bible’s biggest events in his new and rather irreverent book, “Must Know Stories.”

Harrison has taken 10 of the Bible’s top yarns and given them a twist in modern idiom _ a retelling, he insist, to make them “more accessible” and “in a way that relishes them rather than trying to make any particular religious point.”

There’s no question that his version of events is different. He portrays Goliath as a “depressed alcoholic” who was somewhat the worse for wear on the fateful day that he faced little David and the slingshot.

Over in the Garden of Eden, according to Harrison’s retelling, Adam goes ga-ga over Eve’s pulchritude. In the Nativity story, Jesus is born in what sounds like an overcrowded slum dwelling, amid family conflict (largely from Joseph’s aunt) over history’s most famous out-of-wedlock baby.

Other tales that receive the vicar’s makeover include the Crucifixion, the Good Samaritan, the Ten Commandments, the Prodigal Son, Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and the Feeding of the 5,000.

Not everyone is pleased by the vicar’s 21st century view of ancient tales. Justin Thacker, head of theology at the Evangelical Alliance, complains that “in trying to communicate the stories to a contemporary audience, some of the essential features and message may have been lost.”

But Harrison, who preaches at St. John’s church in the Hillingdon district of London, is unconcerned. “It’s better,” he insists, “to tell the story controversially than not at all.”

_ Al Webb

Poll: 1 in 10 Americans Think Obama Is a Muslim

(RNS) Ten percent of American voters believe Sen. Barack Obama is Muslim, despite the presidential candidate’s frequent descriptions of his Christian faith and a high-profile flap over his former pastor.

The finding was contained in survey results released by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

While a majority _ 53 percent _ identify Obama as a Christian, 16 percent of conservative Republicans, 16 percent of white evangelical Protestants and 19 percent of rural Americans believe the Illinois senator is Muslim.

About a third of Americans said they don’t know what Obama’s religious beliefs are, and 9 percent of that group said it’s because they’ve heard different information about his faith.

Confusion over the candidate’s religion crosses party lines. Fourteen percent of all Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of independents think he’s Muslim, according to the survey.

Nearly 80 percent of Americans said they had heard something about controversial sermon sound bites from Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, that have been circulating in the media.

The survey follows an earlier poll in which 80 percent of the general public said they’d heard rumors that Obama is Muslim.

_ Daniel Burke

Teacher resigns over role in Discovery Channel program

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) A Bible scholar and son of a prominent evangelical pastor resigned from his teaching job at a Christian school over his role in a Discovery Channel program, “Jesus: The Missing History.”

Kent Dobson resigned from his job at NorthPointe Christian High School after it “was apparent to both Kent and the board that some of the views expressed on the program were outside of the Statement of Faith of NorthPointe Christian and therefore his resignation was given and accepted,” the school’s superintendent, Jim Hofman, said in a statement.

Dobson, 31, is the son of Ed Dobson, the retired pastor of 5,000-member Calvary Church and a former leader of the now-defunct Moral Majority. He had taught Bible at the school for nearly two years.

“He did resign, that is accurate,” Ed Dobson said after his son declined to comment. “He basically had no other choice, and he initiated it.”

School officials declined to say which comments on the program had prompted the resignation, citing personnel matters.

The Discovery program first aired March 16. “Wars have been fought in his name. Untold millions have devoted their lives to him. But how much do we really know about Jesus ben Joseph of Galilee? Explorer and Bible scholar Kent Dobson sets out to get to the bottom of it,” the Discovery Web site says.

The program raised “difficult questions about the biblical story,” Ed Dobson said. Kent “interviewed scholars who raised questions, and people assumed falsely this is what Kent believes.

“He said, ‘I have questions and doubts, but I’m still a follower of Jesus.’ I think anybody who’s thoroughly honest would reach the same conclusion,” Ed Dobson said.

In 2002, the younger Dobson moved his wife and daughter to Jerusalem, where he studied religion and archaeology and worked as a tour guide for three years.

In 2006, he appeared in a History Channel special on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Opening a Christian’s eyes “to a new perspective of Jesus is good, even if they, in turn, reject it,” Dobson told The Grand Rapids Press last year.

_ Beth Loechler and Charles Honey

Quote of the Day: Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council

(RNS) “I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society.”

_ Peter Sprigg, the vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, discussing his opposition to a proposed bill that would lift immigration restrictions on multi-national gay couples. Sprigg apologized Thursday for not reflecting the “standards which the Family Research Council and I embrace.”

KRE/PH END RNS