The cards are not in your favor, Christian bookstores; read `em and weep.
I’m just enough iconoclast to appreciate the death of so-called Christian book stores. In the middle ages it was alleged relics of the New Testament figures and various exalted “saints.” We just recently saw the end of the Jesus Frisbee. You can still buy both kinds of huckster fraud, but they are no longer so ubiquitous.
I once had a fellow tell me he didn’t like all them other kinds of Bibles, but read only the Holy Bible — meaning he was a stickler for the King James Version. “God wrote only one Bible!” There will always be a vestigial market for that kind of attitude, but it’s a lot less trendy these days, as the linked article notes.
And if you pay attention to statistics, you’ll see that mainstream Christian denominations and churches are withering, as well. Quite a few are filing for bankruptcy, having taken on massive debt and building projects right about the time Millennials came of age. But that generation doesn’t like traditional church culture, so only the trendy entertainment churches are doing okay right now. In fact, among traditional denominational churches, only those that have adapted to the entertainment model are hanging on.
I still keep really solid Christian books, particularly reference works that cover history and archeology. There aren’t that many books dealing with culture and ancient intellectual traditions, so I’m having to scratch for that from mostly secular sources. A lot of decent stuff is now on the Net, but I’m just a little concerned about what isn’t making it. This is why I keep writing on this blog. This is why I tend to focus on a somewhat more intellectual level of teaching; the ancient epistemology has long been hidden and rendered obscure. I’m counting on some of you to breathe life into that teaching with a more vernacular approach.
Now if only av1611.org would go away…
Ha! I imagine that’s a permanent feature on the Internet. Besides, everyone knows that the Geneva Bible is the real deal (sarcasm).
I won’t rest until someone discovers a cuneiform Bible. 🙂
And there’s no justice in the world where av1611.org lives on but the timecube guy’s site is no more. Although, someone mirrored it here. If you read it enough times it makes some sort of sense.
http://timecube.2enp.com
I had to look up the Time Cube thing. Oh, my goodness. I suppose the only way I avoid getting listed in Rational Wiki, where Gene Ray is lumped in with other notorious crazies, is that I don’t take myself that seriously. I already know there are folks who consider me an oddball crank, but they haven’t bothered to lampoon me that much.
Right. When you call yourself wiser than God, you’re just asking to get stuff thrown at you. Even atheists know that’s a dumb thing to claim.
Keep writing! And keep looking at things through God’s lens. I don’t think he’s particularly concerned that Christian bookstores are going the way of the Dodo – as long as his people still seek his face and learn and grow!