{"id":8476,"date":"2024-12-02T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drbobewell.com\/?p=8476"},"modified":"2024-12-02T07:56:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T14:56:21","slug":"bible-sales-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drbobewell.com\/?p=8476","title":{"rendered":"Bible Sales Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before we get back to Ezra and Nehemiah, here’s a story too pertinent to ignore: Sales of Bibles Are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions<\/a>, by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article opens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallelujah! Bibles are a bright spot in books this year. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worries about the economy, conflicts abroad and uncertainty over the election pushed readers toward the publication in droves. Bible sales are up 22% in the U.S. through the end of October, compared with the same period last year, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. By contrast, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1% in that period. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they\u2019re worried for their children and grandchildren,\u201d said Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. \u201cIt\u2019s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles\u2026and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we\u2019re going to be OK.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cely Vazquez, a 28-year-old artist and influencer who has appeared on the reality TV show \u201cLove Island USA,\u201d recently bought her first Bible<\/u><\/a>\u2014one from the \u201cShe Reads Truth\u201d line\u2014at Barnes & Noble.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had Bibles that my mom gave me, but I felt I needed my own to start my own journey, that it symbolized I was starting a walk with God,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt something was missing. It\u2019s a combination of where we are in the world, general anxiety and the sense that meaning and comfort can be found in the Bible.\u201d  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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The article continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand for Bibles is rising despite evidence that the country is growing increasingly secularized. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pew Research Center found that about 28% of adults in the U.S. now consider themselves religiously unaffiliated. Yet Bible sales rose to 14.2 million in 2023 from 9.7 million in 2019, and hit 13.7 million in the first 10 months of this year. Readers are also stocking up on related titles that provide guidance, insights and context\u2014even sets of stickers to flag particularly meaningful passages.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article closes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber Cimiotti, a 38-year-old mother of two in Henderson, Nev., attributes the increase in Bible sales in part to podcasters and Tiktokers like herself sharing easily digestible stories about Christianity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She started to read the Bible this year after feeling unfulfilled by years of advice on self-care, staying healthy and pursuing a career. She said she also sought stability as \u201cthings just went off the rails a little too quickly\u201d throughout society. \u201cWe\u2019re kind of holding on to the edge of the ship, like, we\u2019re not sure what\u2019s happening here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rev. Blaine Crawford, pastor of the Irvington Presbyterian Church in suburban Westchester, N.Y., said he is seeing renewed interest in study groups. The Bible is a \u201cgrand epic story of the great questions of life. What do we do with grief or anger, what are we here for, where is the world going? The Bible provides a counterpart in a conversation about what we\u2019re doing at this time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the takeaway? Here are some suggestions. What do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n