November 20th, 2024
by Stacy Lynn Harp
by Stacy Lynn Harp
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a bible review channel on YouTube and I was very fascinated to see how many people cared about what the pastor was talking about in regards to the OUTside of the bible.
To make a long story short, I discovered the dark world of the "premium" bible.
What do I mean by that? Well, pretty simple. We're talking about men who make and sell premium bibles and then they sell them for a high premium and then they make a mint because of their greed.
One of these premium bible companies actually recently advertised in their email that their new bible retailed for $999, yes you read that right! Almost a thousand dollars for a bible! Actually, no doubt, after taxes it would be over $1000.00 - And this wasn't some ancient or antique bible, it was a new and improved bible that they had just created.
If you happen to be on their email list, you were able to get the super high discounted price of only $229 for the bible. What a marvelous "deal!"
So a Christian company sells their original premium bible for $1000 retail. They put it on sale for $229 in order to show you how generous they are and then they still make a mint on those who are buying them.
I made a simple comment on their Instagram page and received the following response from the owner. My comment was as follows:
Congratulations! Do you guys actually get people paying $1000 for your bibles? I saw that in your email and think that's an insane retail cost.
Their response was:
the $999 price was to make the Bible accessible to email subscribers first who got a discount code in our email newsletter. The code brought the cost down to $229. We don't expect anyone to pay $999. Once the email subscribers had a chance to purchase, we lowered the price for everyone to $229
Which begs the question for me, why not just advertise the bible at $229 in the first place instead of marking up the price and giving it a "perceived" value of $1000? That's just bad business in my mind.
This same company then posted a picture of all the boxes of premium bibles they were shipping out and asked the question, "Any idea what's in the boxes?" and I responded, "Overpriced bibles?"
The owner responded this way...
What price do you put on the Word of God? What price did you pay for your cell phone or TV or car? Priorities. If you don't want to pay for it, that's fine. Others value it more and they are happy to get this bible.
My response was...
Spoken like a true salesman. My husband and I have distributed Gideon bibles for free for a very long time. It's not an issue of God's word you're selling. It's how it's packaged is what you're selling. HUGE difference.
And my friends, that is a huge difference and it's a big deal. People went on to comment about how they put buying these premium bibles on a payment plan after they said they would even pay MORE for these bibles.
This whole thing makes me sad. It's a tragedy that the outside of the bible means more to these folks than the inside of it. I know this because I joined a number of Facebook groups where all these folks do is literally worship and talk about the fine paper of the bible, the different types of leather covers, how many satin ribbons the bibles have a more.
Not only do they worship the outside of the bible, but many of them also worship different pastors who write commentary in different versions. Very few of these folks actually READ the bible.
In fact, one guy posted a few days ago that his child used crayon on one of the pages of his precious premium bible and he was devastated. Never mind his child who was just being a child. Pretty scary.
One last thing also before we end. I'm not against people making an honest living, even in ministry. But when it's God's word being sold at a premium from folks who attack you in response to questions and who excuse their deceptive marketing, then I take issue and so should all discerning people.
Our Lord rebuked the religious leaders of His day for being whitewashed tombs. They all looked great on the outside but on the inside they were dead. I fear that's the case with these bible worshippers.
To make a long story short, I discovered the dark world of the "premium" bible.
What do I mean by that? Well, pretty simple. We're talking about men who make and sell premium bibles and then they sell them for a high premium and then they make a mint because of their greed.
One of these premium bible companies actually recently advertised in their email that their new bible retailed for $999, yes you read that right! Almost a thousand dollars for a bible! Actually, no doubt, after taxes it would be over $1000.00 - And this wasn't some ancient or antique bible, it was a new and improved bible that they had just created.
If you happen to be on their email list, you were able to get the super high discounted price of only $229 for the bible. What a marvelous "deal!"
So a Christian company sells their original premium bible for $1000 retail. They put it on sale for $229 in order to show you how generous they are and then they still make a mint on those who are buying them.
I made a simple comment on their Instagram page and received the following response from the owner. My comment was as follows:
Congratulations! Do you guys actually get people paying $1000 for your bibles? I saw that in your email and think that's an insane retail cost.
Their response was:
the $999 price was to make the Bible accessible to email subscribers first who got a discount code in our email newsletter. The code brought the cost down to $229. We don't expect anyone to pay $999. Once the email subscribers had a chance to purchase, we lowered the price for everyone to $229
Which begs the question for me, why not just advertise the bible at $229 in the first place instead of marking up the price and giving it a "perceived" value of $1000? That's just bad business in my mind.
This same company then posted a picture of all the boxes of premium bibles they were shipping out and asked the question, "Any idea what's in the boxes?" and I responded, "Overpriced bibles?"
The owner responded this way...
What price do you put on the Word of God? What price did you pay for your cell phone or TV or car? Priorities. If you don't want to pay for it, that's fine. Others value it more and they are happy to get this bible.
My response was...
Spoken like a true salesman. My husband and I have distributed Gideon bibles for free for a very long time. It's not an issue of God's word you're selling. It's how it's packaged is what you're selling. HUGE difference.
And my friends, that is a huge difference and it's a big deal. People went on to comment about how they put buying these premium bibles on a payment plan after they said they would even pay MORE for these bibles.
This whole thing makes me sad. It's a tragedy that the outside of the bible means more to these folks than the inside of it. I know this because I joined a number of Facebook groups where all these folks do is literally worship and talk about the fine paper of the bible, the different types of leather covers, how many satin ribbons the bibles have a more.
Not only do they worship the outside of the bible, but many of them also worship different pastors who write commentary in different versions. Very few of these folks actually READ the bible.
In fact, one guy posted a few days ago that his child used crayon on one of the pages of his precious premium bible and he was devastated. Never mind his child who was just being a child. Pretty scary.
One last thing also before we end. I'm not against people making an honest living, even in ministry. But when it's God's word being sold at a premium from folks who attack you in response to questions and who excuse their deceptive marketing, then I take issue and so should all discerning people.
Our Lord rebuked the religious leaders of His day for being whitewashed tombs. They all looked great on the outside but on the inside they were dead. I fear that's the case with these bible worshippers.
Stacy Lynn Harp
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