Amnon Bar-Tur, a co-founder of SafeHarbor Holding LLC, which is proposing the Bible theme park, took photographs of nude models during the 1970s that became covers and centerfolds for the soft-core pornography magazine, the Nashville Tennessean reported Tuesday.

Bar-Tur, who was born in Israel and took his first photos for Penthouse while he was living in England in 1969, released a statement after his former employment with the magazine was revealed.

"Surely what a young immigrant photographer did 35 years ago to make a living in his first job out of college as a fashion photographer has no relevance to the development of our world-class tourist attraction in Rutherford County in 2008," he said.

SafeHarbor Holding, which also counts Bar-Tur's son, Armon Bar-Tur, among its founders, is seeking approval to construct a non-denominational theme park in the Blackman, Tenn., area that would include re-enactments of ancient life as well as theatrical interpretations of Bible stories and other attractions.