A provocative edition of the Bible that made a splash in Sweden last year is now scheduled to hit American bookstore shelves this month.

Bible Illuminated: The Book, The New Testament, a 264-page, full-color, BibleZine-type, softcover format product, will release next month—but whether or not any copies of the 300,000 initial print run copies land in Christian bookstores remains to be seen.

Larry Norton, director of sales for publisher Illuminated World, who hopes to "penetrate the Christian market," told Christian Retailing the company met with potential distributors and retail chains during this summer's International Christian Retail Show, but "the reaction has been cautious."

The brainchild of former advertising executive Dag Södeberg, the Bible uses attention-grabbing color and black-and-white images to illustrate themes of Scripture, such as the book of Revelation introduced by a two-page spread of a man wreathed in flames.

Some illustrations also include news photographs of Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Fidel Castro, Jonestown cult leader Jim Jones and celebrity Angelina Jolie.

For its American release, the $35 Bible Illuminated: The Book, The New Testament uses the Good News Translation from the American Bible Society, which has a "special word" at the end of the book, highlighting the organization's goal of providing Scripture to the world.

Read the full report in the Oct. 13 issue of Christian Retailing.

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