Episode three of The Human Bible is here! Today, we get up to speed on the many names of God—can’t he just pick one already? We answer questions on plagues and virgin births, wonder where C.S. Lewis came up with some of that stuff, and read into the verse that claims Paul took over for Jesus when he wasn’t quite suffering enough—wait, what? Don’t miss it!

A special thanks to Avinash and Jim for sending in the questions answered on today’s show!

http://www.thehumanbible.net/episode_003/

Can I be brutally honest? I love the content of the show. Robert Price clearly knows his stuff and most of it is very interesting and informative. But much of that is ruined for me by the ridiculous voices. Why does he have to make that weird voice every time he says “The Hyooooooooman Bible” and when introducing the different segments? But I could overlook those—what is impossible to overlook is the awful Charlton Heston impression when reading from the Bible. It is so annoying and distracting that I don’t even hear the text, just the weird voice.

Please, Bob—stick to what you do best and leave the comedy to the comedians. 

I have to agree with FreeInky.  I love Price’s work, have listened to his Bible Geek podcast, read a number of his books, and have benefited greatly from his work, but I too find the impersonations grating and distracting.  Those spontaneous bits of comedy tend to undermine the seriousness of his scholarship, especially for new listeners.  I know people who would benefit from this show and his erudition,insights and balanced consideration of various perspectives and lines of evidence, but I know I can’t direct them to it because they would just dismiss Price out of hand without taking seriously his approach because of the frequency with which he lapses into impersonations and corny accents. 
-Ozymandias

I find the impressions and accents enjoyable. They fit the topic: Important but ridiculous.

I don’t find his impersonations detract at all from the content he provides. He has been doing these types of podcasts for a long time and mostly it’s just him by his lonesome talking into a microphone. I believe the voices are a way of amusing himself. Sure, it’s a little awkward when he does international accents (just because they’re from a particular countries doesn’t always mean they talk with the stereotypical accent), but his Dafoe Jesus is hilarious. Think of it as Price’s way of red-lettering it.

If I wanted stodgy pedantic readings of intellectual material, I would just turn on my MacSpeech and have it read Price’s books. I would think people would find Price’s way of speaking a refreshing change of pace. If Price spoke like John Houseman from the Paper Chase, just for the sake of sounding academic and serious, I think that would scare away potential listeners. I mean, what level of intelligentsia snobbery would have to be achieved by listening to this podcast, the depth of Price’s brain, to suddenly be halted by Moses speaking like Charleston Heston? Must knowledge be exceedingly dry? What intelligent person is going to go, “I can’t take Price’s erudition seriously because he thinks God talks like James Mason.”

I only ask Price to give Judas the Christopher Walken accent. No reason, other than for comedy sake.

Price is wonderful when he’s talking about the Bible, religious studies, comic books, and horror, and the accents are all part of this. But whatever you do just don’t let him talk about politics!!

On his podcast the Bible Geek, the voices are particularly useful in discriminating when he is quoting from the Bible, saying his own point of view, or reading from a listener email.  At first I thought it was ridiculous, and grating, but then I came to realize that basically he’s a nerd, and treat it as entertaining.  I’m actually pretty impressed at the range of accents he can do!

There’s one other point I’d like to make about the funny accents. It’s that when you’re talking about fundamentalists who believe that the Bible has one clear and consistent message throughout, it’s extremely difficult to remain serious. The fundamentalist view is absolutely ludicrous, and Price seems to enjoy the wackiness and craziness of it all. I don’t see any problem with this.