The Bible is the best selling yet least read book.
Let me qualify that statement. In the English language, apart from actual translations of the Bible, there are numerable "paraphrases" sold as "Bibles." The sales of these paraphrases are in the multi-million-dollar range. The genuine translations of the Bible have their sales in the multi-millions, too. The flaw with the genuine translations is in their multi-packaging systems. Their Bibles are offered in genuine leather, bonded leather, imitation leather, hard cover, soft cover, TruTone, Leatherflex, etc., etc, and in a variety of single, dual, or multiple colours. On top of all of this, every Tom, Dick, and Harry feels the need to release his/her own "study" Bible; also selling in the multi-millions. Then, you have Bibles that cater to a specific field of information, such as The Apologetics Bible, The Archaeology Bible, The Rainbow Study Bible (with every passage colour coded), etc. In order to get the bits and pieces these various Bibles offer, individuals end up purchasing multiple Bibles. Yet, with the multiple Bibles sitting on their shelves, they still find no time in which to actually read the Bible.
The information contained in some of these Bibles should be sold separately in books of their own (i.e. archaelogical evidence to support the Bible). This is especially true for the many "study" Bibles out there. The Scofield Study Bible, Ryrie Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible, Max Lucado Study Bible, Joyce Meyers Study Bible, Jimmy Swaggart Study Bible, Joel Osteen Study Bible, etc., are products of vanity; not to mention anything in regard to their false teachings and/or heresies presented inside. Their comments should be sold in books completely separate from the Bible (i.e. commentaries) as they colour the Bible with their erroneous beliefs and teachings as if it were the gospel truth.
The themes "Bibles for brides," "Bibles for women," "Bibles for men," "Bibles for soldiers," etc., are all re-branded Bibles festooned with devotional material. They are largely off target, but publishers put them out there to sell books. Evidence of this fact can be seen in the number of Bibles recently released in the name of dead Christians: Matthew Henry Study Bible, John Wesley Study Bible, Martin Luther Study Bible, The C. S. Lewis Bible, The A. W. Tozer Bible, Oswald Chambers Devotional Bible, etc. These men are rolling over in their graves about now. All these publishers care about is the cash flow coming in. You want a Bible that caters to your specific hobby horse, such as environmentalism, they will give it to you, regardless whether the information attached to the Bible is accurate or helpful.
I know individuals who own 20 or more Bibles. Some of these individuals own multiple copies, in different packaging, of the exact same translation. What is the purpose in owning five different ESV translations? Why do you need a genuine leather edition, a TruTone edition with a cross embossed on it, a TruTone edition with a crown of thorns embossed on it, etc.? Why do you need one of each colour or design they put out there? One burgundy, one green, one blue, and one black. The Bible today, essentially, is merely collected by individuals rather than read. They have all these copies of the Bible and yet not one of them has evidence of use. They just collect dust. In fact, as Charles Spurgeon once stated, you could write "Damnation" in the dust on these Bibles.
Let me qualify that statement. In the English language, apart from actual translations of the Bible, there are numerable "paraphrases" sold as "Bibles." The sales of these paraphrases are in the multi-million-dollar range. The genuine translations of the Bible have their sales in the multi-millions, too. The flaw with the genuine translations is in their multi-packaging systems. Their Bibles are offered in genuine leather, bonded leather, imitation leather, hard cover, soft cover, TruTone, Leatherflex, etc., etc, and in a variety of single, dual, or multiple colours. On top of all of this, every Tom, Dick, and Harry feels the need to release his/her own "study" Bible; also selling in the multi-millions. Then, you have Bibles that cater to a specific field of information, such as The Apologetics Bible, The Archaeology Bible, The Rainbow Study Bible (with every passage colour coded), etc. In order to get the bits and pieces these various Bibles offer, individuals end up purchasing multiple Bibles. Yet, with the multiple Bibles sitting on their shelves, they still find no time in which to actually read the Bible.
The information contained in some of these Bibles should be sold separately in books of their own (i.e. archaelogical evidence to support the Bible). This is especially true for the many "study" Bibles out there. The Scofield Study Bible, Ryrie Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible, Max Lucado Study Bible, Joyce Meyers Study Bible, Jimmy Swaggart Study Bible, Joel Osteen Study Bible, etc., are products of vanity; not to mention anything in regard to their false teachings and/or heresies presented inside. Their comments should be sold in books completely separate from the Bible (i.e. commentaries) as they colour the Bible with their erroneous beliefs and teachings as if it were the gospel truth.
The themes "Bibles for brides," "Bibles for women," "Bibles for men," "Bibles for soldiers," etc., are all re-branded Bibles festooned with devotional material. They are largely off target, but publishers put them out there to sell books. Evidence of this fact can be seen in the number of Bibles recently released in the name of dead Christians: Matthew Henry Study Bible, John Wesley Study Bible, Martin Luther Study Bible, The C. S. Lewis Bible, The A. W. Tozer Bible, Oswald Chambers Devotional Bible, etc. These men are rolling over in their graves about now. All these publishers care about is the cash flow coming in. You want a Bible that caters to your specific hobby horse, such as environmentalism, they will give it to you, regardless whether the information attached to the Bible is accurate or helpful.
I know individuals who own 20 or more Bibles. Some of these individuals own multiple copies, in different packaging, of the exact same translation. What is the purpose in owning five different ESV translations? Why do you need a genuine leather edition, a TruTone edition with a cross embossed on it, a TruTone edition with a crown of thorns embossed on it, etc.? Why do you need one of each colour or design they put out there? One burgundy, one green, one blue, and one black. The Bible today, essentially, is merely collected by individuals rather than read. They have all these copies of the Bible and yet not one of them has evidence of use. They just collect dust. In fact, as Charles Spurgeon once stated, you could write "Damnation" in the dust on these Bibles.