942 - Booming Bible Sales
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.