People are seeking the comfort of God during this challenging time. Photo | Courtesy.
Christian Publishing Companies across the globe have seen a record-breaking increase in their Bible sales amid COVID-19 concerns.
In an interview with Fox News, the publishers said more people are buying Bibles because there’s “a longing to connect with God, find meaning, and experience peace.”
“It’s not surprising that people turn to the comfort and clarity of the Bible in times of trouble and uncertainty,” one of the companies, Tyndale House Publishers told media reporters.
The mission of Tyndale House Publishers is to minister to the spiritual needs of people, primarily through literature consistent with biblical principles.
Tyndale executive Jim Jewell told the Christian Post that sales from Life Application Study Bibles went up 44% and 60% for Immerse Bibles.
He believes concerns over COVID-19 have “upended almost everyone’s lives in some way.”
Alabaster Co., a Bible publisher known for its visually artistic individual books of the Bibles, has also seen an increase in sales.
In an interview with Fox News, Alabaster co-founder Brian Chung shared that sales have risen by 143% from last year.
Chung believes that the sales jump occurred because “people are looking for hope and restoration” amid a time of crisis.
“Even amidst suffering and financial hardship we’ve continued to see people engage with Alabaster by utilizing our free resources and purchasing Bibles as encouraging gifts for loved ones,” Chung shared.
According to sources, LifeWay Christian Resources also saw an increase in sales of 62 percent last week compared to the previous year.
“We believe this is no accident, as people often go to the Bible as a source of hope in times of crisis and uncertainty,” said Ben Mandrell, LifeWay CEO. “People draw hope from Scripture because in it they see a God who is with us during our suffering.
“The Bible, as God’s words to us, is a reminder that He doesn’t leave us to walk through difficult times alone,” Mandrell added.
In a paper titled “In Crisis, We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 Pandemic,” associate professor Jeanet Sinding Bentzen found that “search intensity for prayer doubles for every 80,000 new registered cases of COVID-19.”
“Even Denmark, one of the least religious countries in the world, sees systematic increases in internet searches on prayer,” Bentzen noted.
