Wonder of Wonders: Bible Sales See a Surge in the U.S.

Despite the never-ending drumbeat that the number of religious "nones" is on the rise and churches are emptying out, there is a curious trend involving Bibles that many religious and social pundits and prognosticators probably didn't see coming: Bible sales are spiking. The Bible has always been a bestseller, but according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Bible sales in the United States saw an increase of 22 percent at the end of October.

The WSJ piece attributes the increase to worries about current events, including the recent election that had the entire country, left and right, chain-smoking and chewing their nails to the quick. And then there is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the war between Israel and Hamas, and, of course, the economy. And, as many PJ Media readers know, that is an extremely truncated list of things that have been keeping Americans up at night. Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, told the paper, “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.”  Twenty-eight-year-old Cely Vasquez, who is a Long Island influencer and artist, recently bought her first Bible and told the Journal:

I’ve 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. I felt something was missing. It’s a combination of where we are in the world, general anxiety and the sense that meaning and comfort can be found in the Bible.

Bethany Martin, the manager of the Faith & Life Bookstore in Newton, Kansas, said she is seeing an increase in first-time buyers, which she attributes to a search for hope.

Conservatives who are still walking on clouds after the election and see the Trump victory as evidence of divine intervention are aware that there are still pitfalls and snares along the road ahead. The opposition is down and, for all intents and purposes, out for the moment. But it is regrouping. The headlines are still dominated by crime and corruption, and South Korea has now entered the arena of international concern. 

On the other side of the aisle, there are undoubtedly progressives and independents who recognize that their trusted sources failed them. Joe Biden was not fit to be president and had no intention of keeping his word. Kamala Harris was never going to win. The DNC spent tons of money on a losing election, and it is likely dawning on more and more people that, despite the rhetoric, their leaders have been in it for themselves; most whites aren't racist, not everyone is trans, and the majority of conservatives are actually decent human beings. Once you realize that no one cares if you are bald and angry, it may be time for some self-inventory. 

In one way or another, the "System" and the systems have failed everyone. The gods of the 21st century are revealing themselves to be empty idols. The supplicants who once worshipped at the altar of the old order may be finally looking up from their phones and wondering aloud, "Is this all there is?" The answer to that is, of course, no. And it says something about America that people seem willing to look beyond the institutions of men to find meaning.