In the beginning there was Disneyland - now Bibleworld

Published on Sunday 7 April 2002 01:00

IN the beginning there was Disneyland. Then came its spiritual brother, Disneyworld, and a host of followers - from Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to Stalin World, in Lithuania.

Now, the greatest story ever told is to get its own theme park - Bibleworld, a new 200,000 Christian centre to be opened in Edinburgh next spring.

The exhibition will feature a virtual tour of the Scriptures in which visitors are guided by a hologram of St Paul. There will also be computer games, described as "Lara Croft versions" of the Bible, in which players work their way through nine quests before reaching a final screen where a golden trophy awaits the player with a sound knowledge of Christianity.

Bibleworld is the brainchild of the Scottish Bible Society, which hopes the modern, high-tech approach to religion will particularly appeal to young people reared on a culture of computer games and theme parks.

The society’s chief executive, Doug Campbell, said: "We have to think of new ways - visual ways - of doing things. I believe less than 10% of Scots read books so if we want people to engage with the Bible, which can be a very intimidating prospect, then we have to change the way in which we package the message to make it more accessible."

Bibleworld will be based in a former church in Hampton Terrace, in the capital’s West End, and will be free and open to members of the public and organised groups.

The exhibition will feature four different areas. One depicts the Forum in Athens where St Paul preached and was mocked by Greek philosophers for his beliefs. Children will be able to dress up in togas and take part in debates in this area, to be led by adult actors.

Another area depicts a shipwreck suffered by St Paul at Malta en route to a Roman prison. A third presents the interior of the ship, and features computer screens to be used to play biblical computer games.

The fourth tableau represents the Roman prison from where St Paul penned his Epistles, his instructions to early Christian communities all over the empire. Another element of that room will be an empty tomb, to symbolise the resurrection of Christ.

The image of St Paul will be created by state-of-the-art holographic projection techniques which allow two dimensional images to be projected on to barely visible plastic display screens.

Bob Owtram, Bibleworld’s creative director, said: "It will look as though he is just floating in the air. The hologram will be programmed to respond differently to different age groups visiting the exhibition, so his script will be different if he is talking to younger children, or teenagers, or adults.

"The Lara Croft version of the Bible should help make scriptures more accessible to a younger generation."

However, Jesus does not feature prominently in the exhibition and His crucifixion is only obliquely referred to through the character of a Roman soldier who witnessed the event.

Owtram said: "We do not want to be disrespectful or tacky, so there will be nothing in bad taste."