Ten years ago, you had to do some serious detective work to find the Scripture section in a major bookstore. And when you did sleuth it out, it was usually a shelf or two, at the most. Today, the Scripture section in bookstores is apt to be many times that size. Last Saturday night at my neighborhood Barnes & Noble, I found two entire aisles full of Bible-related books. To say nothing of the aisles filled with other Scriptures of the world. All kinds of people milled around these aisles—moms and dads with strollers, teens, retirees. The only available seating I could find was on the floor.
There were all the Bible translations you'd expect—from the King James Version to The Message. And innumerable "niche" Bibles: teen Bibles, kids' Bibles, women's Bibles, men's Bibles, African American Jubilee Bibles, student Bibles, Bibles for people who are grieving.
What struck me most, though, was the vast spectrum of books designed to help readers get into the Bible. There were scholarly commentaries and dictionaries and lexicons. As well as a vast selection of books for novices—The Bible Made Plain and Simple, What the Bible Is All About, and The Handbook of Bible Application. And of course, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible.
