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America Sees Record Bible Sales

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pledge to bring the Christian faith back into the White House appeared to have helped boost Bible sales to levels not seen in years.

Data released Sunday showed Bible sales rose to 14.2 million in 2023 from 9.7 million in 2019 and have already hit 13.7 million in the first 10 months of this year.

The figures cited by book sales tracker Circana BookScan and first reported by The Wall Street Journal newspaper come despite 28 percent of adults in the U.S. claiming to be religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research Center.

Sales were up 22 percent through the end of October, at a time when a growing number of people face anxiety over, according to Christian leaders.

“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” said Jeff Crosby of Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in published remarks. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles … and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”

President-elect Trump endorsed the Lee Greenwood “God Bless the USA Bible” ($59.99). While his endorsement was not included in Circana BookScan figures, it did not go unnoticed.

Trump, who has identified himself as a non-denominational Christian, also pledged to revive a “Faith Office” in the White House.

REINSTATING FAITH OFFICE

During a recent interview with the National Faith Advisory Board in Powder Springs, Georgia, Trump told moderator Paula White-Cain that he would reinstate the office he created during his first term.

“We’re going to set that up,” Trump said Monday. “It’s important, and it’ll be directly into the Oval Office.”

He added, “We have to save religion in this country. I mean, honestly, religion is under threat in this country, a serious threat, and we can’t let that happen. It’s sort of the fabric of our country. It’s the thing that holds our country together. We can’t, we can’t lose it. We’re not going to lose it.”

Experts note the election, anxiety, and new curiosity — if not commitments — to faith at a time when the world is in turmoil.

“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” Jeff Crosby of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association said in published remarks. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles … and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”

Cely Vazquez, a 28-year-old artist and influencer who has appeared on the reality TV show “Love Island USA,” recently bought her first Bible—one from the “She Reads Truth” line—at Barnes & Noble.

“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,” she said. “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.”

MANY BIBLES

Faith & Life’s website offers over 270 Bibles, including a $95 leather-bound giant-print option and a $7.99 pocket-size New Testament.

Others sell graphic novel Bibles, reference Bibles in a rainbow of color options, versions explicitly intended for men, teens, and early readers, audiobooks, and even one bound in goatskin, priced at a whopping $832.50.

Bethany Martin, manager of the Faith & Life Bookstore in Newton, Kansas, said she sells to many first-time Bible buyers.

“They’re looking for hope with the world the way it is, and the Bible is what they’re reaching for,” she said.

That was music to the ears of Wall Street Journal reporter Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg: “Hallelujah! Bibles are a bright spot in books this year.”