The Smile Bible: A Source-Critical Analysis “Lying sure is lucrative.” -R.H. Tatum, The Smile Bible , commentary on Genesis 20:15 In the fall of 2020, SBL members in various corners of social media began receiving e-mail correspondence from a person writing under the pseudonym “R.H. Tatum.” The purpose of these e-mails was/is to advertise “a refreshing, fun, and insightful commentary” called “The Smile Bible.” Most, it would seem, simply deleted these messages when they first started to roll in. After all, members of SBL are no strangers to such solicitations. Gradually, however, and thanks in large part to the Twitter presence of R.H. Tatum (@thesmilebible), many began to realize that the product being marketed as a “refreshing” and “fun” commentary was in fact exceptionally problematic. It is filled with “humor” that rests on foundations of misogyny, Judeophobia, and sexual violence. A short list of examples from the Genesis-Exodus volume, which is not meant to be exhaustive: ● In the commentary on Genesis 2:21, for example, which describes the creation of woman from man, and God closing up the man’s wound with flesh, Tatum writes: “I think it would’ve been better to leave a gaping, bloody hole in the man, which would heal slowly and leave a nasty scar. Because that would be a good way to remind him of his wife.” ● In the commentary on Genesis 16:6, when Sarai “deals harshly” with Hagar, Tatum writes: “This is no way to treat your slaves. You shouldn’t abuse them so badly that they run away, because, like, who then is going to make you a sandwich?” ● In the commentary on Exodus 5:15, when Israelite overseers say to Pharaoh, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?”, Tatum writes: “It is a good question. Because the Egyptians are cutting off their nose to spite their face. Which is the point the Jewish overseers were making, but they didn’t want to bring up noses.” The Smile Bible Twitter feed is in many ways far worse and even more offensive than the books. Consider the following: Who is R.H. Tatum? With the amount of horribleness on the internet today, it would have been relatively easy to simply dismiss The Smile Bible as the work of another misogynistic, Judeophobic person with too much time on their hands. But The Smile Bible is difficult to dismiss in this way, because R.H. Tatum self-identifies as a “Bible professor” and “scholar.” A question therefore began to gnaw: Could one of our own have written something like this? The Parallels Several of us who are trained in the transmission of texts thought it might be a worthwhile challenge to discover the person behind the pseudonym. And it did not take long to discover a few threads that led us to the data that follows. We present these parallels as an exercise in source criticism, and we invite readers to draw their own conclusions about the identity of R.H. Tatum. One thing that became immediately clear in our investigation is that R.H. Tatum draws heavily from the work of Dr. Mark Roncace, Professor of Religion at Wingate University. Tatum also seems to have a striking familiarity with Roncace’s now-deleted Twitter account. A few examples (many of which you will note are verbatim similarities): Smile Bible Mark Roncace, Holy Hilarity and Twitter There are 31,102 verses in the Bible, and this is the only one that depicts a husband and wife making out. So Isaac and Rebekah settle in Gerar, ostensibly as siblings, because Isaac fears for his life. One day King Abimelech looks out his window and sees Isaac fondling Rebekah—the two are getting a little frisky in the field. Why they are doing this in full view of the palace is strangely unclear. And funny. THis is the only reference in the Bible to foreplay, other than the Song of Songs, which is eight chapters of foreplay, which is way too long. At this point, Jacob is thinking that just to be safe, he should’ve added the fake beard. Well played by Jacob—this guy is smooth, literally and metaphorically. Dad eats and drinks and then wants a kiss from Jacob, who probably thinks at this point, “I knew we should’ve added the fake beard to the costume.” Apparently Esau didn’t use Tide Ultra. WHich is lucky for Jacob because nothing triggers a divine blessing like the smell of grass, trees, and deer urine. Dad eats and drinks and then wants a kiss from Jacob, who probably thinks at this point, “I knew we should’ve added the fake beard to the costume.” But luckily for him, Isaac only smells the clothes and says, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of the field,” which means Esau never did laundry, otherwise Isaac might’ve said, “Ah, the smell of my son, Tide Ultra.” Only because there was no one else to compare to. Plus, I hope the man was careful when gardening in the nude, especially when pruning the trees or using the weed whacker—that’s one thing I’ve had to learn the hard way. God and creatures both have important and interrelated roles to play in developing, nurturing, and maintaining life in Eden—a life that the man and woman are to share together as partners. Naked partners. So they have to be especially careful when pruning the trees and using the weed whacker. We too might seek ways we can partner with one another and with God in order to preserve and nourish the gifts we have been given. Not good for man to be alone? Had God never heard of man caves? The Lord surveys the situation and observes that the man should not be alone (had God never heard of man caves?). Abram had to be disappointed it was only a two-letter change: ha. Like some kind of joke. Everyone would still call him Pimpdaddy anyway. Abraham may have been a little disappointed that it was only two letters different—“ha,” like some kind of joke. I love that God loves puns. But someone should tell God this is not the time. Yes, circumcision jokes are funny, but there’s a cutoff point. Someone should tell God this is no time for puns. Circumcision is no laughing matter. Well, actually, if God can joke about it, so can we. After all, circumcision jokes are funny, but there’s a cut-off point. Lot really should’ve known you never drink with your kids. Only because of them. Lot should know you never drink with your children. Only because of them. This Shechem may be a spoiled, arrogant prince, but at least he’s not afraid of commitment. He may be a spoiled, arrogant prince, but at least he’s not afraid of commitment: he liked it and he put a ring on it. Apparently the brother’s should’ve asked for Shechem for even more. Like foreskins and kidneys. At which point Jacob’s sons wish they had asked for more: like foreskins and kidneys. Shelah was probably sixteen and thinking, I’d be happy to do my duty, you know, just to help my deceased brother.” I imagine Shelah is probably about sixteen and thinking, “Dude, I’d be happy to do the right thing, you know, just to help my deceased brother have kids.” Screenshots are being transcribed for accessibility purposes. Transcriptions from The Smile Bible will appear below each screenshot and exclude the biblical quotations that precede each instance of commentary for now. Roncace’s now-deleted Twitter accounts (via the Wayback Machine, here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130722233611 /https://twitter.com/MarkRoncace) Who knew Abraham was a prophet. I just thought he was a liar. Tweet: Genesis 20: So were Abraham and Sarah really brother and sister (v. 12)? Or is Abe lying again? Which one would be worse? Either Abraham is lying, which I hope is the case. Or, this is not good. We just had father-daughter incest in the last chapter, and now we have brother-sister stuff going on. This is too much. The incest stories should at least be spread out. Cattle, slaves, his wife. And now real estate. Lying sure is lucrative. God preemptively understands the importance of obeying your angry wife. Which is kind of surprising, since God’s a bachelor. Tweet: Genesis 21: The first time (v. 12) God tells a man to listen to his wife (easy for a single God), she is wanting him to destroy the family? It’s a little too late for not “doing anything to him,” as I’m pretty sure Isaac is going to be scarred for life. Tweet: Genesis 22: Would you tie your child on an altar and raise a knife to their throat, for God? How much therapy did Isaac need after this? Tweet: Genesis 24: Isaac finds his wife at the well--as do other dudes in the Bible. What is Just like today, one of the best places to hookup is the local drinking hole. it about picking up women at the local watering hole? There are 31,102 verses in the BIble, and this is the only one that depicts a husband and wife making out. Tweet: Genesis 26: Isaac gets caught fondling his wife (v. 8). Is this the only biblical scene of foreplay? And are they doing it in public? Also amusing, because God must hold up his end of the deal. Then, and only then, will Jacob commit. Makes sense. You really should get something in exchange for circumcision. Tweet: Genesis 28: Does Jacob have the best tithing practice ever—if you, God, give to me first, then I will give a portion back to you (v 20–22)? Pure slapstick comedy—no pun on slapstick: How could Jacob not know it was Leah? The only answer I can think of: Alcohol. Tweet: Genesis 29: How does Jacob work 7 yrs for Rachel, then unknowingly have sex w/Leah—is he the first guy to wake up, look at girl, and say wth? Mandrakes are a plant that was thought to be an aphrodisiac, enhancing fertility. Those poor ancient people didn’t have real drugs, so they had to use plants. Jacob’s actions here seem to be based on the ancient belief that what animals look at while breeding determines the coloration of their offspring. Which of course is bizarre to our modern scientific sensibilities. We now know that animals close their eyes during sex. In case you’re not getting the image...goat humping. Now I’m starting to think Jacob is making all this up. Because divine dreams rarely feature humping goats. Humping, yes. Goats, no. Tweet: Genesis 30: How funky is this mating? Mandrakes bring human fertility? And tree branches in front of humping goats determines coat color? Funny. Jacob’s been going on for ten verses about himself—his dreams, angels, God, goat humping. And the girls are like: Yeah, Dad has totally cheated us. And then he probably added, “As for the women, they are wives I personally worked my fanny off for. Well, not that cross-eyed one over there. But that’s another story. Tweet: Genesis 32: So Jacob kicks God’s fanny (v 25)? And refuses to let him go until God blesses him? What have you done to (not for) God today? So who is even using The Smile Bible? An Amazon review of The Smile Bible suggests that it is a textbook used in a Religion course at Wingate University in North Carolina, where Mark Roncace teaches. We obtained a syllabus that confirms the text is used in his class (along with both another pseudonymous work by a certain “Nathan Nathanson” and an electronic volume from Roncace’s “Point of View Publishing” project). See images below: Amazon 2 star review under name “Cynthia Garrick.” Review title: “Would not recommend”, review posted on 11/22/20 Review: I am a freshman college student at Wingate University, and I used this book for my Global Perspectives of Religion 101 class. This book was not useful for interpretations of biblical literatures. Some of the jokes in The Smile Bible was [sic] very inappropriate and I felt that religion shouldn’t be looked at or viewed as the ways it was viewed in this source. I highly do not recommend this book to any religious group. Image description: Global Perspectives in Scripture Spring 2021 syllabus at Wingate U. Course instructor: Mark Roncace. Texts assigned for the course are Snapshots of Scripture, Point of View Publishing (Amazon Kindle ebook), 28 Christian Short Stories edited by a pseudonymous “Nathan Nathanson” (also Amazon Kindle ebook). The Smile Bible is assigned as “optional/extra credit”. Conclusions? This document is about data, not conclusions. You are free to draw your own.