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The Orange Catholic Bible (abbreviated to O. C. Bible or OCB) is a fictional book from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Created in the wake of the crusade against thinking machines Herbert calls the Butlerian Jihad, the Orange Catholic Bible is the primary orthodox religious text in the Dune universe and is described thus in the glossary of the 1965 novel Dune:
Contents
ORANGE CATHOLIC BIBLE: the "Accumulated Book," the religious text produced by the Commission of Ecumenical Translators. It contains elements of most ancient religions, including the Maometh Saari, Mahayana Christianity, Zensunni Catholicism and Buddhislamic traditions. Its supreme commandment is considered to be: "Thou shalt not disfigure the soul."
Physical appearance
In Dune, Dr. Yueh gives Paul Atreides his copy of the Orange Catholic Bible during their initial trip to Arrakis. This copy is a space-traveler's miniaturized edition of the book, set in tiny print on fragile pages made from "filament paper." It is described as "black, oblong, no larger than the end of Paul's thumb" but contains eighteen hundred pages. Yueh instructs Paul in its use:
It has its own magnifier and electrostatic charge system ... The book is held closed by the charge, which forces against spring-locked covers. You press the edge — thus, and the pages you've selected repel each other and the book opens ... the charge moves ahead one page at a time as you read. Never touch the actual pages with your fingers. The filament tissue is too delicate.
Teachings
The appendix to Dune also notes that the chief commandment of the Butlerian Jihad remains in the Orange Catholic Bible as "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." It is further explained in the Dune appendix that the passage "Paradise on my right. Hell on my left, and the Angel of Death behind" describes human life as a journey across a narrow bridge.
Original Dune series
In the Dune universe, many references are made to the Orange Catholic Bible, sometimes in the form of epigraphs. The following quotations illustrate the nature of the Orange Catholic Bible, including how it pertains to the technophobic mindset resulting from the Butlerian Jihad, causing humans to become analytical devices. Probable source material has been cited, but quotations may not reference the same chapter and verse as the source material due to the text having been edited and condensed over time.
The original Dune series also includes quotations from the Orange Catholic Bible Commentaries by the Commission of Ecumenical Translators:
Expanded Dune universe
The Orange Catholic Bible is also quoted in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (1999–2001), as well as their 2007 conclusion to the original series, Sandworms of Dune. Though the authors used epigraphs and notes left behind by Frank Herbert after his death in their prequels and sequels, it is unknown which of these (if any) are from those notes.
Dune Encyclopedia
According to the non-canon Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly, tentative initial titles for the Orange Catholic Bible were the Koranjiyana Zenchristian Scriptures or Zenchristian Navakoran. Although no explicit listings of the books composing the work or of the contributing religions has been given in the Dune novels themselves, the Encyclopedia lists source texts and religions.