Goliath was a "depressed alcoholic" who was hung over on the day of he met David. Adam couldn't get enough of the naked Eve. That's according to new versions of the famous Bible stories published by Christian publisher Scripture Union, writes Joanna Sugden.

The embellished ancient stories are part of a series of 10 Must Know biblical narratives by Rev Robert Harrison. He also penned pumped up versions of Noah's Ark, The Ten Commandments, Daniel and the Lions' Den, for the adult series which is available in children's versions.

Mr Harrison said the idea came when he asked 1000 secondary school pupils in an assembly if they knew the story of David and Goliath and was met with blank faces. "Because we are so uneasy about things religious they [the stories from the Bible] are slipping out of our consciousness," he said.

But Mr Harrison told Times Online the books shouldn't be used to "promote Christianity". But he said this stance caused a few ructions with Scripture Union whose "nature and job is to promote Christianity". "I wanted to say this is a brilliant story and let people work it out from there...If we were promoting Christianity the Humanists and the Muslims would say 'we don't want to read that'" Mr Harrison added.

But some orthodox believers may be concerned that Mr Harrison's artistic licence could cause confusion and distort both the biblical text and the public's understanding of scripture. "I've tried to retell the stories using contemporary story telling techniques. People wouldn't pick up a Bible or know where to find the story in the Bible." The author said the bible reference was written at the end of each story so people can "compare and contrast" the texts.