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The Bible has long been one of the world's least-read bestsellers. According to pollster George Barna's January 2005 survey of more than 1,000 adults, 45 percent said they read the Bible during a typical week. But publisher Zondervan said that while 91 percent of Americans own at least one Bible, only 22 percent have read through the entire text. Fewer still seem to understand it. About 12 percent of Americans think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc, according to a Gallup poll.

Proponents of a new trend, however, hope to make God's word digestible for the masses not in years, but in weeks, days, and—yes—even minutes. The BBC reported that The 100-Minute Bible, published last September, has already sold 100,000 copies.

How many purchasers are actually reading it—and what they are getting out of it—are other matters.

Including The 100-Minute Bible, three new options for accelerated Bible reading have just hit the shelf, all based on the premise that reading it the old-fashioned way is just too hard or takes too long.

For the person who want their speediness to be at a relaxed pace, The Bible in 90 Days might be a good choice. With an interactive website and cross-country encouragement, it is both a Bible and a curriculum (www.Biblein90Days.com site run by Zondervan) developed and field-tested by Ted Cooper, a Houston businessman.

Six years ago, Cooper and his wife were professed agnostics. They started attending church for their children, and Cooper began to be skeptical of his own agnosticism as he read the Bible. "I thought if there is a God and I get started reading it, he's going to want me to finish it," he said.

A computer industry consultant and businessman, Cooper read the Bible in three months. He said he "became a Christian in the Old Testament" and started telling people about the transformation.

Cooper developed a class on Bible-reading for his church. The basic premise of "The Bible in 90 Days" is to read 12 pages of the NIV Thinline Large Print Bible every day, which takes between 45 minutes and an hour, and attend supplemental classes either in church or a small group.

Cooper estimates that more than 1,000 people have gone through the program, across denominational lines.

And how many have finished? About 54 percent, Cooper said.

A national launch began on January 1.

But if 90 days seems like 89 too many, then The HCSB Light Speed Bible may be about your pace. William Proctor, the Bible's editor, took the Holman Christian Standard version and paired a speed-reading technique with the text to allow the reader to get through the entire Bible in a mere 24 hours.

Proctor said people want to read the whole Bible, but lack the skills and time. "People can revolutionize their Bible reading." Proctor added headings, subheadings, and underlinings to the text in order to "focus on important people and facts."

Interestingly, the 24 hours don't include just one skim through the volume's 1,500 pages and 4,000 years of biblical history, but three passes: light speed (four seconds per page, reading headings), landmark (eight seconds, headings, subheadings, underlinings), and learning (one to two minutes, every word).

Proctor said the volume, which came out in October, isn't a substitute for in-depth study, but "an essential adjunct to Bible teaching."

Some Bible scholars express unease with turning the Bible into an Evelyn Wood course. Richard Schultz, professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, said that "the Bible is God's eternal inerrant Word, not a quick read."

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March (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50