The best presentation at Theology after Google, in my estimation, was Jana Riess’s on how she’s tweeting through the Bible. She boils one chapter a day into a tweet. They are often hilarious and/or poignant, and sometimes shocking. It’s a brilliant idea that Jana pulls off brilliantly. Here’s a sample:
Deborah Arca Mooney interviewed Jana for Patheos this week, to get a bit more behind-the-scenes view of what makes Jana tick, and what she’s learned so far (Jana has just finished the Pentateuch).
Describe your process for converting ancient writing into 140-character tweets? Do you read different Biblical translations?
In my first couple of months I was incredibly earnest and bought spanking new commentaries. I work part-time for Westminster John Knox Press, which has a world-class line in biblical studies. Plus I get a sweet employee discount. So I purchased new commentaries on Genesis and Exodus. During Leviticus I started to backslide (which is kind of ironic since practically the whole book is about the many ways people who backslide are going to be roasted and toasted by God and neighbor), and began going with the flow a little more. My first priority is to entertain; my secondary agenda, if there is one, is to get people thinking about and actually reading the more bizarre parts of the Bible. One of the best compliments I’ve gotten recently is from a reader who said, “When I read your Twible the other day I was just sure that couldn’t possibly be in the Bible, and then I looked it up and . . . yep, it was there! The Bible is full of really weird stuff!”
Indeed, it is full of weird stuff. I might even say it more strongly than that. So, I encourage you to follow @janariess and #twible, and if you have time, watch her 15-minute presentation below:
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Now if she would ditch the chapters and go with the natural breaks of Scripture, THAT would be incredible!