A group of Kanye West fans have taken their support for their idol to a whole new level as they released a novelty coffee table book entitled The Book of Yeezus, which they tout as the Bible for the New Age.
The book, which is being sold at e-commerce site Etsy for $20, is a reproduction of the Book of Genesis with one major change. Each mention of God is replaced with the name of Kanye or his monicker "Yeezus."
It claims that it is not intended to mock praise the rapper but rather "offers a fresh take on what the Bible could look like in the modern world," NME.com reports.
"It's adding an original twist to something ancient and important in order to capture new meaning. We are trying to cast our spotlight towards the way cultural icons have come to be the contemporary figures in our information culture," the book's author said in a Q and A with The Daily Mirror.
According to Book of Yeezus page, the author, identified only as Channel222, and his brothers came up with the idea to modify the most significant book in Western tradition to reflect modern society and chose to focus on the rapper because of his impact on people.
"Each generation champions a superstar, so consistently relevant that they come to accompany that generation through its evolution, being a part of and ultimately shaping its identity. Such past icons have been the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, or Michael Jackson. For this generation, Generation Y, Kanye West is not only its greatest spectacle, but in some senses, a spiritual figure," the book's description read.
Young Christians operating the site GeeksUnderGrace.com, have called the book blasphemous and recently posted their disappointment over the book's release.
"I cringe at the thought of some young teen picking up that book and reading it with every mention of our creator replaced with a person like Kanye who seems to care mostly about himself and has been known to disrespect God on a number of occasions," GeeksUnderGrace's Michael Pyatt Jr. wrote.
Pyatt also criticised the book's creators for making a mockery of the Bible and for presenting their book as a cultural phenomenon.
