2/11/2025

Who has time to read the Bible?  Why bother?  Evidently, increasing numbers of people think there’s a good reason.  According to the Wall Street Journal, sales of Bibles are booming, fueled by first-time buyers.  Bible sales rose 22% through October compared to the same period the previous year.

Bishop Robert Barron says the Bible has been—certainly for Western civilization, but even all over the world—the main source of meaning, purpose, value.  He believes people are turning back to the Bible in greater numbers because they’re looking for that, and they realize instinctively they’re going to find it.  Publishers attribute the jump in Bible sales to rising anxiety and a search for hope.

Barron says he’s seeing a notable shift away from the New Atheism of the early 2000s.  He believes that in the beginning some people thought, “Oh, great.  Stick it to the man, and I’m against religion.”  But when you take that message in, what are you left with?  It’s a complete nihilism.

Barron added that he hasn’t been surprised by rising rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, particularly among young people.  That’s what happens when you say there’s no meaning or purpose.

If you’re not right now regularly reading the Bible, I encourage you to get to know Jesus by reading the biographies about him in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

-Michael