In 2001, Smith told the first six stories of the Book of Genesis as his first project, and today he says he has created over 400 Bible stories using the toy blocks and figures. Reading the Bible for the first time was “an eye-opening experience” for him, he says, and going to church and Sunday school didn’t prepare him for much of what he read.
Sam’s Club stores are no longer selling The Brick Bible: A New Spin on The Old Testament, which tells Bible stories through 1,400 images of toy Lego pieces, after “numerous concerns” were received about some of the book’s content.
“Sam’s Club received numerous concerns from our members and parents about the mature content in what is perceived as a children’s book. Accordingly, Sam’s Club made a business decision to discontinue sales,” a Sam’s Club spokesperson told The Christian Post via email on Friday.
Although parents might have a problem with the book, its creator says he was only trying to be true to the Word.
“From the start, my goal was to create an illustrated Bible that stood out from all others – not just because it was illustrated in LEGO, but because I would be using only direct quotes of scripture to retell the stories just as the Bible tells them,” the book’s illustrator, Brendan Powell Smith, told CP in an email.
“I also endeavored not to water down the stories or censor them for content. If it was in the Bible, my thinking was, it was worth illustrating,” he said. “That decision has meant, though, that not everyone considers The Brick Testament appropriate for all children, since the Bible is chock full of graphic violence throughout, and contains a few stories with sexual content.”
Although his website contains images of some suggestive material, Smith claims that his publisher, Skyhorse Publishing, agreed to remove any sexual illustrations from the book version “at the request of reps from Walmart/Sam’s Club.” According to a report from CNET, however, a Sam’s Club spokesperson said the company had no involvement in deciding the book’s final content.
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