Duuuuuuuude!

April 14, 2006 11:47 AM

Bible Dudes. I'm a Bible Scholar, a Scriptural caller, I got a lot of books but not a lot of dollar. Things from antiquity you know they be ravin', I throw around words like sitz-im-leben, A bazillion languages are cloggin' my head, All of my heroes have been a long time dead. Come on along now, all the Bibledudes' buddies, Cuz Yo! We gonna rap BIBLICAL STUDIES!
posted by ozomatli (34 comments total)

Word.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:49 AM on April 14, 2006

A very informative, tasteful, and fun site that explores the topic of biblical studies, a subject I find endlessly fascinating. Irregardless of anyone's religious proclivites, the Bible is an important book that deserves study.
posted by ozomatli at 11:51 AM on April 14, 2006

Good post! Unashamed dorkiness is immensely cheering.
posted by By The Grace of God at 11:55 AM on April 14, 2006

the Bible is an important book that deserves study

It's been done. Let's move on.
posted by oncogenesis at 11:56 AM on April 14, 2006

It deserves study! With many exclamation points!
posted by brain_drain at 11:59 AM on April 14, 2006

I've the got rhythm in my soul. As it were.
posted by grubi at 12:04 PM on April 14, 2006

Wow. I like it. It's definitely not a complete joke--the section on literary and feminist interpretation was pretty well written. So is this like some bored divnity student or something?

Nice post ozomatli!
posted by bardic at 12:13 PM on April 14, 2006

Jesus is just like all those other rappers. Always going on and on about how much gold, frankincense, and mirh he's got, how he can heal the blind better than those sucker sons -o- god, how all the women be hos ('cept his moms, she's a sweet ol' virgin, of course) and then spreading his arms wide and braggin' about being hung like nobody else.
posted by bondcliff at 12:18 PM on April 14, 2006

Who the bible dudes are:

"Hi! My name is Mike, a shortened moniker for Michael M. Homan. I'm a middle-aged fat guy from Nebraska of all places. I'm married to Therese Fitzpatrick, the fantastic girl who drew all of these images. I've got two children: Kalypso and Gilgamesh, proving the disadvantage of having a father obsessed with antiquity. I used to be in a band, but now spend quite a bit of time teaching, traveling, and digging up ancient Near Eastern history with my trowel. I am a professor at Xavier University of Louisiana way down yonder in New Orleans."

"My name is Jeff, though in reality my fuller name is Jeffrey C. Geoghegan. I am a professor at Boston College, where I teach and do research on the Bible and the broader ancient Near East, including such places as Egypt and Mesopotamia. When my nose isn't buried in a book or glued to my computer, I enjoy spending time with my family: Jannetta, who is my best friend, and our children, Nathaniel, Brittany and Abigail."
posted by ozomatli at 12:18 PM on April 14, 2006

Bathsheba got a one-track mind
Doesn't matter if it's yours or mine
Coz if you didn't know
and you wanna get wit her
You can knock her up and send her husband to die in battle
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:22 PM on April 14, 2006

Irregardless is not a word. Just sayin'...
posted by basicchannel at 12:29 PM on April 14, 2006

I ain't bound by any of your steenkin' grammer rules!!
posted by ozomatli at 12:30 PM on April 14, 2006

This reminds me of those "Cartoon Guides to" books. In a very good way. Not surprised that they're actually profs. Looks like they had a good time with this.
posted by bardic at 12:48 PM on April 14, 2006

I love that they have a "Dude, WTF?" category.



On preview ... Kalypso and Gilgamesh? Dude, WTF?
posted by Alt F4 at 12:50 PM on April 14, 2006

I dunno. I study the Bible, and I'm taking a course titled History of Christianity this semester, so I obviously don't object to the field he's studying.

Having said that, what is it with people trying to make scholarship trendy? I mean, it isn't physically possible to turn study of the Bible, or for that matter *any* serious study, into a trendy, hip-hop thing. It just looks pathetic, like those McDonalds ads that try to use modern slang and wind up suggesting that people want to have sex with their burgers.

I'm not saying that academia isn't fun, but it isn't the "bright colors and 500 word vocabulary" kind of fun.
posted by sotonohito at 12:56 PM on April 14, 2006

You thought this site was trendy? I thought its inherent dorkiness kind of made it. And as an intro. to some basic terms and aspects of heuristics, it does a better job than many text-books and/or profs I've encountered could do.
posted by bardic at 12:59 PM on April 14, 2006

Heh. These guys wrote an interesting Dummies Guide To The End Of The World a few years back, with a guided tour of various apocolyptic scenerios in different faiths. Fun stuff.

That said, the site is a bit tough to read. A little TOO bite-sized.

MetaFilter: It's been done. Let's move on.
posted by verb at 1:04 PM on April 14, 2006

the Bible is an important book that deserves study

It's been done. Let's move on.

Done perhaps, but certainly not Finished.
posted by freebird at 1:06 PM on April 14, 2006

Look, if they get hooked on this bible rap thing, they can eventually work their way up to the harder stuff. Think of this site as a "gateway drug."
posted by jtron at 1:12 PM on April 14, 2006

Love the site. Love the rap. What a great thing to take stuffy religious academia and allow it to cut loose! It's not for everyone, but it made ME smile...and I learned a thing or two from reading the website. F' Shizzle.
posted by rdauphin at 1:22 PM on April 14, 2006

I came for the bible dudes, but I stayed for the McPassion (click now, it's being taken down on Easter Sunday).
posted by illovich at 1:50 PM on April 14, 2006

The next person who uses the non-word "irregardless" around here is going to get my copy of the KJV rammed up his or her ignorant arse. Probably.
posted by Decani at 2:10 PM on April 14, 2006

The next person who uses the non-word "irregardless" around here is going to get my copy of the KJV rammed up his or her ignorant arse. Probably.
posted by Decani at 4:10 PM CST on April 14 [!]

Who cares? It's a word now.
posted by ozomatli at 2:17 PM on April 14, 2006

Decani, that's rather inflammable of you.
posted by bardic at 2:24 PM on April 14, 2006

"Having said that, what is it with people trying to make scholarship trendy?"

I agree with Bardic's take on it: intentionally dorky, in an earnest and charming way. But that aside, what it is--attempts to make scholarship more accessible--is a way to struggle against a general air of anti-intellectualism that pervades "the" culture like aerosolized coliform bacteria in a bathroom following a flush. (Yeah, I wish I wasn't joking, too.) And it's probably a more constructive way to fight it than generalizations about it crashing headlong into dubious analogies, to boot!

Neat site.
posted by Drastic at 2:27 PM on April 14, 2006

Dude, I'd love to read through, but the layout (cartoon format) is killing me. But then maybe I'm not the intended audience since I wouldn't know hip hop if I fell over it....

Rock on.
posted by bim at 3:06 PM on April 14, 2006

jtron wrote...
Look, if they get hooked on this bible rap thing, they can eventually work their way up

It's so true man.

When I was kid on the streets of Suburbia, USA, I used to think that Christian music was something that happened to other people.

One day I heard my neighbors playing this loud rap music that had a really cool beat. I couldn't make out the words, or anything, but the rap was awesome. I found out later the rapping was in "Latin", a special secret language they use in Christian music.

Anyways, I went next door to ask them where I could buy a copy, and they were all like "Peace be on you, man", and they offered to MAKE A COPY of the CD. This was my first introduction to easy criminal ways of Christian music. I asked my neighbors about it, but instead of being ashamed, they were all like "Make as many copies as you want, man. Spread the word!"

I listened to the CD over and over, but pretty soon it wasn't enough. So I went down to the music store and asked the clerk if he could point me to some, you know, bible based music. Anyways, he looks at me all funny like, and then without a word he leads me over to this little nook in the corner of the store I had never even noticed before, and sure enough there's a whole section called "Christian Music". I couldn't believe they'd have such a thing in a chain store, and I could totally see why they hid it out of the way where no one might see it and complain.

I bought a few more Bible Rap CDs, but I'd played those through before I knew what happened, and I was back in the Christian Music section looking for more. Eventually out of desperation I started trying out the other Christian Music. I did everything, man -- Christian Rock, R&B, Dance Music, Folk, Heavy Metal. I couldn't get enough.

About this time I started getting in trouble in school. I really wanted to fit in with the Christian kids, but every time I approached them with a high-five and "Ave Maria" they just looked at me like I was some weirdo and walked away. Then one night in my Junior year it finally all came crashing in. I had told my parents I was going to a Sammy Hagar concert, but someone called them and tipped them off that they had seen me at the "Sweet Honey and the Rock" show.

They took a tough line with me, and even though I hated them for it I think they did the right thing. They burned all my Christian Music CDs and paraphenelia, and started monitoring what I brought into the house. I was barred from Bible Music, and had to listen to mainstream secular stuff, like U2 and Amy Grant. My dad even tried to push classical music on me, like I was going to listen to Mozart, Handel, and Bach when I wanted to be listening to Christian music instead.

Anyways, I'm off that shit now, and much happier for it.
posted by tkolar at 3:24 PM on April 14, 2006

Wow, this website is pretty entertaining. I love Cleopatra the camel, that's great!
posted by ddf at 4:31 PM on April 14, 2006

[derail]
Irregardless
Pronunciation: "ir-i-'gärd-l&s
Function: adverb
Etymology: probably blend of irrespective and regardless
nonstandard : REGARDLESS
usage Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that "there is no such word." There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

Just sayin'.
[/derail]

You may now return to Bible rapping.
posted by Stauf at 6:07 PM on April 14, 2006

Metafilter: "Ja, das is me, Herr BibleDudes."

Wow. I think a lot of the inspiration for the site is the totally unsophisticated Sunday school curricula I was exposed to back in the early 1980s. That's what makes it genius.

I can just see the conversation that might have got it going:

"Hey, what happens if we take complex Bible nerdery stuff that many people of faith never explore, and offer it up like a cheesy '80s Sunday school lesson?"

"DUUUUDE! That would be so righteous!"
posted by bugmuncher at 10:42 PM on April 14, 2006

fuck it with a stick
posted by trondant at 3:45 AM on April 15, 2006

I don't think it would like that.

What are we talking about?
posted by Drexen at 5:35 AM on April 15, 2006

Merriam and Webster can suck a fuck. T'AINT NO WORD BUT THE GOOD LORD'S WORD!
posted by basicchannel at 1:21 PM on April 15, 2006

Who cares? It's a word now

I care; you idle, witless, malformed fucking lout. Because it's an incorrect word now. And always.
posted by Decani at 7:08 PM on April 19, 2006