Bibles

A Chinese court has indicted a Hong Kong businessman who allegedly brought thousands of Bibles to a banned Christian group in China, a human rights organization said. The court in the city of Fuqing said Li Guangqiang, 38, had "used a cult to undermine the enforcement of the law," the organization said. It said Li might face the death penalty. Li is accused of taking 33,080 Bibles to the Shouters Sect in 2001. The sect's charismatic style of worship includes shouting out prayers.

The History Channel's TV miniseries "The Bible" debuted at the top of the DVD and Blu-ray sales chart, while Oscar best picture winner "Argo" held on to the top rental spot. Here are the top selling and renting titles for the week ending April 6 and April 7, respectively. TOP-10 DVD & BLU-RAY SALES 1. “The Bible” - Fox - Week 1 2. “Lincoln” - Disney - Week 2 3. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” - Warner Bros. - Week 3 4. “Les Miserables” - Universal - Week 3 5. “Wreck-It Ralph” - Disney - Week 5 6. “Parental Guidance” - Fox - Week 2 7. “Life of Pi” - Fox - Week 4 8. “Rise of the Guardians” - Paramount - Week 4 9. “Zero Dark Thirty” - Sony - Week 3 10. “Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One -- Avengers” - Disney - Week 1 TOP-10 DVD & BLU-RAY RENTALS 1. “Argo” - Warner Bros.

Thomas Nelson Publishers, the world's largest publisher of Bibles, has announced the formation of a division to meet the Scripture needs of Roman Catholics. Sam Moore, president and chairman of the company, said, "For years we have published books and Bibles for Catholics, yet we felt like we could be doing more. We decided with counsel from various church officials to concentrate our efforts in the form of a special publishing arm of our company."

If Rupert Murdoch had gotten his way, the miniseries "The Bible" might very well have ended up airing on the Fox News Channel instead of the History channel, where it was a huge hit. Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp., was hot for "The Bible" as soon as he heard about it from Mark Burnett, the reality TV king ("Survivor," "The Apprentice") who made the miniseries with wife Roma Downey and Hearst Entertainment. Although Hearst co-owns History, "The Bible" was pitched elsewhere first and Murdoch was the first to raise his hand for the event program.

A majority of Christian booksellers said that a recent squabble over an inclusive-language Bible had little or no impact on Bible sales, according to a new survey by an association of Christian retailers. Of the nearly 140 retailers surveyed by the Colorado Springs-based Christian Booksellers Assn., 97% said Bible sales remained steady. Nearly 40% of retailers reported that Bible sales were up or have remained the same. Only 9% reported that Bible sales had dropped.

A businessman and local officials were in a run-down Philadelphia neighborhood discussing ways to bring in more jobs when they were approached by a man holding a Bible. He pulled a gun out of it and robbed them. The man approached the group and asked if they were cops. One answered no. That's when the man opened his hollowed-out Bible and whipped out a pistol. "In that case, give me your wallets," said the crook.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia have hijacked the yacht of a couple on a worldwide voyage distributing Bibles, according to Somalia's U.N. Mission. Jean and Scott Adam have been sailing around the world for six years on their sailboat, the S/V Quest. They have raced with the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, which has been their mail drop during their global odyssey. Omar Jamal, first secretary at the Somali mission, said Friday that pirates in the Indian Ocean had taken four U.S. citizens captive when they hijacked the S/V Quest, according to the Associated Press.

The trial of five anti-abortion demonstrators accused of trespassing and conspiracy flared into a dispute Wednesday over whether the defendants can display their Bibles before prospective jurors. In a rare flash of anger, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Richard A. Paez warned the defendants and their attorneys that he would instruct the court bailiff to confiscate the Bibles if they continued to openly consult or wave them during jury selection.

Right after Easter, a Northern California firm specializing in what it calls "micropublication"--miniaturizing printed pages onto single, small cards--began marketing one containing the entire Bible. Reduced to the size of a business card, the 1,562 pages of the Bible were touted by ThemeCards Inc. of Mountain View as "a personal reminder of faith" that can be easily carried about. Letters to religious organizations suggested that the Bible card would be an excellent tool in raising funds.

A Chinese bookstore chain recently put 10,000 Bibles on sale in its stores and sold out within a month. Peter MacInnes, manager of Amity Press, which was set up with aid from the worldwide United Bible Societies and which now prints Bibles in Nanjing, called the sales a "breakthrough," adding: "In the long term, the most efficient avenue for distributing Bibles in China is not through church agencies, but through bookstore chains."

In his first night back on the air Monday after a two-week hiatus, Stephen Colbert focused on spiritual matters. As “America's most influential Catholic,” Colbert was naturally disappointed to have missed out on covering the election of Pope Francis, but luckily there was even bigger religious news to discuss - the History channel's megahit miniseries “The Bible,” which wraps up its run this week. While the program has been a ratings winner for the network , drawing more than 10 million viewers a week, it doesn't sound as if Colbert is much of a fan. He seemed baffled by the decision to turn the Bible into a miniseries, sarcastically claiming that “the word of God and the story of all creation doesn't really have the legs to sustain an entire series, unlike the History channel's 'Big Shrimpin'.'" Colbert was equally skeptical about the casting of Roma Downey - who executive produced “The Bible” along with her husband, reality-TV magnate Mark Burnett - in the role of the Virgin Mary.

  Total time: 30 minutes Servings: 10 servings of ¼ cup (makes about 2½ cups) Note: Sweet red wine is traditional in haroset, but you can use any wine you like or substitute grape juice. 1 cup almonds (about 5 ounces) 1 cup walnuts (about 3.5 ounces) 1 cup pitted dates (about 4.5 ounces or 20 Deglet Noor dates), pitted, halved and cut in chunks 1/2 cup dried apricots (3 ounces or 12 apricots), cut in chunks 1/2 cup dried figs (about 4 large whole figs)

The producers of History's enormous ratings hit "The Bible" may want to add a disclaimer to future episodes of the religious miniseries: Any resemblance between Satan and President Obama is purely coincidental. Given its subject matter, it was all but inevitable that "The Bible" would become a magnet for controversy, and so it has, though not for the reasons you might expect -- like, say, its emphasis on violence or its decidedly European-looking cast . No, the reason that executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett found themselves on the defensive on Monday is that a  number of viewers, including conservative pundit Glenn Beck, have noticed a resemblance between Obama and Mohamen Mehdi Ouzaani, the actor who plays the Devil in the miniseries.

Against all odds, David emerged victorious over a giant ... named Donald Trump?  "The Bible," History's 10-part epic produced by Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey, converted 10.8 million total viewers for chapters three and four on Sunday, covering the stories of King David, Samson and other characters. That was down 17% from last week's record-shattering premiere, but it was still an impressive number for a scripted miniseries on basic cable. "The Bible" also easily outdrew NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," the reality competition overseen by Trump, which scored just 5 million from 9 to 11 p.m. Sunday.

After the coffee. Before syncing my new BlackBerry to my work email. The Skinny: It's good to be back home. Ask me in a few hours if it is good to be back in the office. Kidding! Tuesday's headlines include a look at how Hollywood tries to spin a bad movie, Paramount is getting back into TV production and History Channel had a Sunday night to remember. Daily Dose: Steve Capus, who resigned as president of NBC News last month, was given a farewell party Monday night by the network that was his home for two decades.

And on the seventh day, History created humongous ratings. The cable network got its prayers answered by retelling two epics Sunday. First, its 10-part, Mark Burnett-produced miniseries "The Bible" premiered to 13.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. That made it the No. 1 entertainment telecast of the year on cable TV. Then, at 10 p.m., the network followed up with the initial installment of "The Vikings," its first scripted series, which slapped horned helmets on 6.2 million viewers.

Malaysian authorities have confiscated more than 15,000 Bibles because they referred to "God" as "Allah," a translation that has been banned in this Muslim-majority country, Christian church officials said. The Rev. Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, said authorities seized a consignment of 10,000 copies sent from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Kuching, in Sarawak state, on Sept. 11 because the Indonesian-language Bibles contained the word "Allah." An additional 5,100 Bibles, also imported from Indonesia, were seized in March, said an official from the Bible Society of Malaysia.

An American Christian group that was stopped at the airport when it tried to bring in more than 300 Bibles won't leave the customs zone until it gets the books back, its leader said today. The four Americans, led by Pat Klein of the Wyoming-based Vision Beyond Borders, said they were convinced officials wanted them to leave the Kunming airport in southern China without the Bibles, preventing their distribution. "We paid a lot to come here and bring them," Klein said in a telephone interview from the customs area, where the four have been since Sunday.

Mark Burnett, one of the most prolific reality-show producers on television, is going from scorched earth to burning bush. The former military paratrooper who made his name in Hollywood with back-biting, take-no-prisoners programs such as "Survivor," now in its 26th season, and "Celebrity Apprentice," is tackling the Bible in a 10-hour miniseries that marks his first foray into the scripted genre. The show, which launches Sunday on History channel and runs on consecutive Sundays through Easter, covers the Old and New Testaments and cherry-picks some of the best-known stories from Genesis to Revelation.

History channel, which for so many years seemed dedicated primarily to discovering how many documentaries might be extracted from the Second World War - the Hitler Channel was its joking sobriquet - has been branching out. Last year, its "Hatfields & McCoys" miniseries set basic-cable records and was nominated for 16 Emmys (and won five). Sunday brings its first scripted drama, "Vikings," and another miniseries, "The Bible," scheduled so that it ends on Easter. There are millions if not billions who take the Bible as literal truth, but it is not history as we commonly understand the word.