I stopped in at two area bookstores yesterday--one of the finest bookstores in the country, the Tattered Cover, and my local Borders. The TC is a great bookstore overall, but their coffeeshop area, which was superior in their old location at Cherry Creek, has been cut way back. Borders, on the other hand, has an excellent coffee section, but I still haven't figured out where their new non-fiction is.
In the course of each visit, and as per usual, I check the religion section. They always have have a ton of Bibles. This is not surprising, of course, since the Good Book is a major best-seller. Bibles usually occupy two full shelves.
Folks, there are only about half a dozen really popular translations. If you already have one of those, you really don't need the "teenagers' Bible" or the "patriots' Bible" or the "nerd's Bible" or the "bikers' Bible" or whatever.
The content is the same as any other Bible. What you're buying is somebody else's commentary--commentary which is, to be kind, "uneven." Read the Bible for yourselves, people. You don't need somebody to tell you what it means.
Most of the religion section, both at TC and Borders, is comprised of "Christian Fiction." These are your Rebecca-of-Sunnybrook-farm kind of books--either that, or Tim LaHaye's all-the-liberals-die books.
The theology section is usually somewhat thin in most bookstores. These two, however, had several offerings, including several classics. Each had books by several major theologians, including Augustine, Luther, and Bonhoeffer, and some contemporary authors as well.
Though you may purchase it at both locations, avoid the new Bonhoeffer book. The reviews have been roundly negative because it appears the author, who tries to turn Bonhoeffer into an American-style evangelical, obviously doesn't know that much about Bonhoeffer.
Another section, sometimes called "spirituality" or "Christian living" is often large also. The majority of books in these categories are schlock--dreary, kitschy, and pious--and all seem to assume that we want to live in a Minneapolis suburb in about 1955.
Sprinkled in among them, however, are a small minority of truly interesting books. Some of the newer writers from the emergent church, for example, are expressing and giving shape to what I hope will be the Christianity of the future.
I think about someone who wants something to shape up her teenage son--give him a dose of religion, maybe that'll help--and picks up Brennan Manning or Rob Bell, or the home-school mom who wants to learn more about Bible and buys a book by Dom Crossan. Such are the little victories of the Holy Spirit!
On the other hand, I think of those many people who are looking and searching. Maybe they have a specific problem--divorce, death, job--or maybe they struggle with meaning and purpose. They might stop by to see if the Christian faith has anything to say to them. What do we have to offer? Tim LaHaye and the Patriots' Bible?
Someone once said that Jesus preached the kingdom of God, but what we actually got was the church. Similarly, Christianity is purportedly about Jesus of Nazareth, but unfortunately, it more usually reflects the values of the people who killed him.
You are absolutely right mate, it's a rip off and they are good at it.
Posted by: Bully Kutta | April 07, 2012 at 07:12 PM