Angelina Jolie, Bono and Nelson Mandela feature in Vogue-style Bible
Angelina Jolie features in a new version of the Bible.
By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
Last Updated: 7:05PM BST 09 Oct 2008
Dag Soderberg has decided to repackage the bible in the style of Vogue The glossy coffee table tome, titled Bible Illuminated: The Book, is a bold attempt to capture the attention of modern readers.
Instead of following the usual Bible format - lots of words but somewhat lacking in celebrity portraits - Swedish ad man Dag Soderberg has decided to repackage it in the style of Vogue.
Passages are written out in a magazine-style format and accompanied by striking images. Jolie's picture is included alongside Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and U2 frontman Bono, to illustrate the importance of doing good deeds. They were selected after the publishers asked the Swedish public which famous figures in modern times represented goodness and compassion.
Jolie is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and noted humanitarian, donating millions of dollars to the poor through the charitable foundation that she set up with partner Brad Pitt.
Other images include a shirtless male model striding through the waves and a black-and-white close-up of a couple about to kiss.
The New Testament version of the book is published in the US at the end of this month and there are plans for a UK release in the coming months.
According to its publishers, when The Book was released in Sweden it accounted for a 50 per cent rise in the country's Bible sales for 2007. It was initially sold in fashion boutiques, art galleries and design stores before reaching bookshops.
Soderberg insists he is not particularly religious, explaining that his motivation is to make the Bible more accessible.
"Most people have issues with the Bible. They have never gotten into it. They don't find it accessible. But it's our history, our heritage. And for most of us, we relate to it more than we think. Religious or not, it shapes much of our moral codes," he said.
His goal is "to make a version of the Bible that people want to pick up, instead of hide away or just place on a bookshelf."