Friends: 'Talk about Good News … well, here’s some. Blessings, Bob

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Labels: 2 Timothy 3:16, Bible sales, Circana BookScan Jeffrey Trachtenberg, Pew Research, Wall Street Journal

Spirituality Column #942

December 3, 2024

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Booming Bible Sales   

By Bob Walters

“All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” – 2 Timothy 3:16

Speaking of profitable, here is an unexpected headline – and maybe a Christmas gift idea – from the Wall Street Journal this past weekend:

“Sales of Bibles are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions.”

For all the non-God cultural lunacy of the past decade or so, not to mention the seemingly monthly negative church polls – thank you, Pew Research – about dwindling attendance, the “Nones,” and diminishing faith of the general population, there is a solid, American uptick in publishing and sales of Christian scripture. I think that is fabulous.

The article by New York City-based WSJ reporter Jeffrey Trachtenberg, whose specialized beat is the print media industry – i.e. books and magazines – displays this sub-head: “Publishers attribute a 22 percent jump in Bible sales this year to rising anxiety, a search for hope, or highly focused marketing and designs.”

Trachtenberg cites a Circana BookScan statistic, showing the 22 percent Bible market gain.  By comparison, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1 percent in that period. Here is a link to the article: Sales of Bibles Are Booming - WSJ.

In case you can’t get through the Journal’s subscription paywall, let me share some of the story’s quotes and findings, and a few of my own opinions.

For an explanation of the rise in sales, Trachtenberg quotes Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, “People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren.  It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles, and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.” Bible sales can signal aggregate hope, too, not only despair.

“Faith & Life” Christian bookstore owner Bethany Martin in Newton, Kan., is quoted that she is selling lots of Bibles to first-time Bible buyers. “They’re looking for hope in the world the way it is, and the Bible is what they’re reaching for.” The store’s website offers more than 270 Bibles, he reports, noting a veritable explosion in color options and custom versions “intended specifically for men and teens and early readers” along with study Bibles and women’s versions. And, “There is a goatskin version priced at $832.50.”  All well and good, but we know the Bible’s value is its truth, not its price.

Without doing a deep-dive into Trachtenberg’s faith life, what I can discern about his reporting is that he is a serious, veteran journalist reporting the facts without editorializing.  He neither trashes nor promotes faith along the way; he writes it straight. 

And that’s fine; it is a rare and laudable, and classical, journalism characteristic.

Without bias or comment, Trachtenberg reports that President-elect Donald Trump, back in March, “endorsed the ‘God Bless the USA Bible,’ which sells online for $59.99 and isn’t included in Circana BookScan figures. Oklahoma’s education department recently purchased more than 500 of those Bibles for local schools, the Tulsa World (newspaper) reported, referencing copies of purchase orders.” No snark.

Trachtenberg cites recent Pew Research data revealing “28 percent of adults in the U.S. consider themselves ‘religiously unaffiliated.’ Yet Bible sales were 9.7 million in 2019, rose to 14.2 million in 2023, and were 13.7 million the first 10 months this year.”

I often say God doesn’t need polls, but strong Bible sales are surely Good News.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) gives the news a “Wow!” With surprise, and hope.