Friends: Authority resides with Christ, not modern cultural fashion.  God bless!  Bob

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Spirituality Column #960

April 8, 2025

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Authority of the Age

By Bob Walters

”He was given authority … and his kingdom … will never be destroyed.” – Daniel 7:14

“[Jesus] taught as one who had authority.” – Matthew 7:29

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” – Jesus, Matthew 28:18

Polling firm Pew Research for several years has tracked the rise of the “nones,” the growing American population segment which claims no particular religious affiliation.

After two decades of a steadily rising cohort of “nones” – 16 percent in 2007 rising to nearly 29 percent last year – Pew reports an apparent “leveling off” of that number, which includes those (approximately) who say they are atheist (5 percent), agnostic (6 percent), or “nothing in particular” (19 percent).

Latest Pew numbers state, authoritatively, that 62 percent of U.S. adults call themselves Christians, down from 78 percent claiming Christian identity in 2007.

There is no reason I can see to doubt the numbers.  In fact, maybe we should be glad the disparity and evident disinterest in Jesus aren’t more pronounced.  We have all been living in the same disparate, fractured American culture these past few decades.

Let me jump in here to assert, vehemently if I may, that I do not believe in any way, shape, or form that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the true fellowship of true Christian believers is changed or impacted by numbers in a poll … in any age.

God’s truth does not change.  That is why it is not called, “God’s opinion.”

In last week’s Logos Sunday school, classmate and college math professor Tom Foltz made a great and graphic presentation of the Pew polling arithmetic.  There’s no disputing the numbers, which inspired some thinking about what’s behind the decline.

Like, God doesn’t change. Faith in Jesus is the unchanging way, truth, and life into the eternal kingdom. The Spirit abides in all truth, scripture is true and sure. And if the church is the visible Body of Christ, what does the Pew poll reveal?  It reveals … us.

Math and science, done honestly and well, reveal evidence, but often not the causality, prescriptive, and ethic of why? … what can be done? … and, what is right?

Here’s my best guess at “why” Christian influence is dwindling. It’s in our secular world’s flood of information and distractions fueled by modern technology and limitless alternate activities. Smart phones, computers, and the internet provide endless communication, good and bad. Culture no longer protects Sunday as a day for church.

Rampant secular humanism insists not only on the supremacy of man over God, but on the “see-it-to-believe it” tyranny of short-sighted, human “truth.” God’s authority is not merely devalued, it is ignored and derided. The first thing the first believers believed and proclaimed about Jesus was the nature of His Godly authority – He is the Son of God, with true authority over Creation, God’s laws, God’s love, and our salvation.

The early church didn’t survive and grow because it was forgiven; it survived and grew because the faithful loved each other, preached the Word, and helped everybody.

God will sort out right and wrong, righteously, because He can do no other.  Our culture claims an authority it does not possess, same as the Pharisees in Jesus’s day.

Today’s light-thinking progressive Christians regularly deconstruct God’s truth. “Woke” and wealthy foundations impose non-biblical cultural fashions on God’s people. But here is a lesson for the ages: man’s authority saves no one, regardless of any poll.

God’s ageless authority resides in love, truth, and glory … polling at 100 percent.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) shares this Feb 2025 PBS story about Pew’s poll. And … here’s a link to an old column about authority (#558, 7-25-17), Expert Opinion.

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.

Spirituality Column #310
October 23, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville

Polling Data and God’s Truth