If you just can’t relate to the Bible’s archaic language, and the Jesus Video’s choppy editing didn’t do it for you either, maybe this will be what you’re looking for — religious drama that’s “not real traditional.”

Using dramatic monologues woven with poetry and humor, actor, writer and solo performer Norman Dietz will attempt to transform the original works of the Bible into a modern story.

The New York Times said through Dietz’s performances, he “can easily impart the feeling that he is relating a story he has just heard to a few friends in the privacy of his living room.”

Karl Coch, pastor at University Lutheran Congregation, said hopefully students will say to themselves, “It may be something I believe in. It may be something I don’t. But maybe something will come of it.”

Dietz has been a traveling performer since 1962 and has also published two books. When he’s not on the road performing, Dietz runs an ice cream store and theater with his wife, who is also in the acting business.

Coch first saw Dietz perform a piece in high school when he was attending a Lutheran youth gathering in Michigan. He acted out a conversation between Adam and Eve in the garden.

“I remember it was very entertaining,” he said. “It allowed me to hear the old, familiar stories in a way that combined humor and poetry … he got me thinking in a whole new way, and I realized that there were other ways to present this material.”

Coch said he has seen Dietz a couple of times since and decided to bring him to Ames because “I wanted to share him with the university.”

Dietz will also share his talent with the community, as he will be performing “Testament” at Bethesda Lutheran Church, 1517 Northwestern, on Sunday at 7 p.m.

“Testament” is Dietz’s original work in which he tells the story of Jesus in a “rapid-fire, absorbing narrative which pieces together the elements of the four Christian Gospels into a seamless whole.”

Dietz’s work differs from most religious drama in that it is not a collection of “little skits” and the message is “more subtle.” He uses more contemporary language and also touches on themes outside of traditional religious ones, including those of social justice and environmentalism.

“Almost no one these days ever hears the story of Jesus in one sitting,” Dietz said. “And when they do, it almost never hangs together meaningfully. It is told in most contemporary translations in language that strikes me as dull and awkward.”

Dietz said he has two goals: to make language contemporary without losing the poetic aspect and to tell the story of Jesus in a way that addresses a contemporary audience.

He said he wants to tell “the story of Jesus as a tale of human emotion and the mystery of human existence with God.”

Dietz will perform an assorted collection of some of his shorter works titled “Norman at Random” in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union Monday at noon.