Film / Book Reviews, Touch

Stamping Bible stories in our minds

The Bible on Stamps:
(1) The Story of the Old Testament
(2) The Story of Jesus

THESE two bi-lingual books (English and Chinese) are a young collector’s item of Christian art and literature.

The two volumes will be books that will be taken from the shelf and read and illustrations admired from time to time as postal stamps are used as a means of communicating the message of God’s love in the Old and New Testaments through various pictures and designs.

The stories as told in the Bible are taken from the New International Version (for the Old Testament) and Today’s English Version (New Testament) and Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation.

There are a few illustrations taken from various sources, including “Children’s Stories from the Bible”. The bi-lingual reader will enjoy the richness of these summarised stories, told in narrative prose and at the same time improve on his/her Mandarin.

But what is most fascinating about these books is the 25-year-old labour of love of a collection of stamps of Dr Bobby Sng that are used as illustrations of the much loved stories of the Bible.

The sheer beauty of the colours and illustration of every stamp, from the “Creation of the World” to the “Ascension”, is to be savoured.

Some of the stamps are prints of Bible story paintings of Rembrandt, Rubens and Raphael, to name a few of the great artists.

The greater number of the postal stamps featured in this collection, so beautifully captured in paintings, are surprisingly not only from the West but also from St Lucia/Cayman, Ghana/Sierra, Malawi and Australia, just to name a few countries.

Reading is further enhanced with the inclusion of appropriate maps, diagrams and pictures, also in full colour. The format of these books is to be appreciated for its simplicity.

Published by the Bible Society of Singapore, “The Story of the Old Testament” and “The Story of Jesus” will be much appreciated, Bible-centred gifts for the bi-lingual reader.

SHEER BEAUTY

‘The sheer beauty of the colours and illustration of every stamp, from the “Creation of the World” to the “Ascension”, is to be savoured. Some of the stamps are prints of Bible story paintings of Rembrandt, Rubens and Raphael, to name a few of the great artists.’

Veronica R. Poore is Chairman of the Local Church Executive Committee of Short Street Tamil Methodist Church.

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