Christian actor David Suchet has released an audio recording of the entire NIV Bible.
The TV star best known for his role as Hercule Poirot, says the project was a “27-year ambition”. It took over 200 hours in a recording studio to complete.
In an interview with Christian Today, he said: “I hope that it won’t necessarily just be Christian people who listen, but those who are just interested to hear what I’m reading too.”
Incredible
Asked if he discovered anything new while recording, Suchet said: “It confirmed my faith; even in the most difficult passages full of blood and guts, which people often shy away from or think ‘How could a loving God be like that?’
“But the Bible was written at a particular point in time and years later God was mirrored by Jesus, who said ‘If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father’. In Jesus we meet a God who is full of love and compassion and gentleness – yes, he can be angry, but to see him reflected in Jesus is incredible.”
The 78-hour recording will be the first full-length audio Bible spoken by a single British actor.
Challenge
He said one of the project’s ‘challenges’ was reading Chronicles because “it’s filled with numbers, families, names and tribes”.
Suchet explained: “I just thought how am I going to get through this?
“And then I realised that behind every name was a human being with a life, so I told myself not to rush it, to remember that it would have originally been read out loud to people who would have known those people, and it would have meant a lot to them, so it should to me too! These people had families and lives, just like you and I do.”
The TV star has previously recorded the Gospel of St John. But he said reading the entire Bible felt “very different” because he “was reading it all together”.