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My dad just sent me this Opinion Journal article on how much the Bible industry is booming:
These days the Good Book comes in hundreds of varieties.
Always a dependable seller, the Bible is in the midst of a boom. Christian bookstores had a 25% increase in sales of Scriptures from 2003 to 2005, according to statistics gathered by the Phoenix-based Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, a trade group.
General-interest bookstores, while declining to give figures, have also seen increasingly strong sales. "Bibles are a growth area for us and we're giving them more space in our stores," said Jane Love, religion buyer for Barnes & Noble. "It's partly because of the way they've evolved over the last three or four years."
There are PDA Bibles; audio versions like James Earl Jones reading the New Testament and Zondervan's just released "Bible Experience" with the voices of such African-American stars as Angela Bassett, Denzel Washington and Cuba Gooding Jr. Coming soon from Thomas Nelson: Johnny Cash reading the New Testament. There are Bibles aimed at children and teens, Bibles aimed at women. There's that water-resistant version of the New Testament--"Immerse," from Thomas Nelson--for camping trips, days at the beach, and perhaps baptisms.
There's even a "Jesus Loves Porn Stars Bible"! Of course, not everyone is happy about this one. On the other hand, some people think it's great. It's drawn enough controversy, ABC World News recently ran a report on it. Here's the corresponding video (very clean content):
(Hattip where is angela)
Now that's what I call evangelizing on the margin!
P.S. -- What do Bibles have to do with signaling theory and Christian dating? Click here to find out!
1 comment:
I don't know if you've already read about this, but I think I've got you beat: for once I'm speechless.
Link is safe for work.
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