The Book will be a tour-de-force that focuses on the commonality of mankind.
I will be reaching out to scholars in many of the world’s most important religions. I’ll be working with a Pastor (Christian), a Rabbi (Jewish), an Imam (Muslim), Priest (Catholic), Priest (Buddhist), Purohit (Hindu), Kannushi (Shinto), and 2 Christian Lay persons. Since scholars in all of the top religions have studied the bible, I will be asking each scholar to select up to 20 verses from the New Testament that they feel are the most important, enlightening, and valuable to them.
Along with their selections I will be asking them to write a short (1 paragraph) commentary about what each verse means to them (see an example). Ultimately the book should contain approximately 25 verses and the commentary from all the the contributors that have selected that verse. The format of the book will be a chapter for each ‘verse’. Heading the chapter will be the verse itself, and then the analyses that the scholars provide. I envision the analyses to each be distinct (and with a byline for scholar) so that readers will be able to see how the different scholars relate to the verse and to each other.
Ideally the resulting chapters (and the completed book) will be a tour-de-force that focuses on the commonality of mankind. A book constructed like this will have the advantage of being easily understandable to a wide audience that might otherwise be hesitant to read the Bible because they worry that it would be a struggle to read, or that it would be hard to understand. That outcome alone would make the project worthwhile. But the larger goal is to bring the blueprint to more people around the globe, in varied religions, with the hope that it will bring us all closer.