Comments on: Is autographing a bible an act of desecration?

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 23:46:02 +0000

In reply to Books and Authors in this week’s Wednesday Connect | Christian Book Shop Talk. Yeah but those people don't sign the cover super big with a sharpie do they? They open it to the dedication page and sign it there with the others, right? Stop trying to defend the actions of a man who simply pretends to be Christian as part of his grift. He is bad enough, don’t help him.

By: Vicki S. Koerber

Vicki S. Koerber — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 15:40:50 +0000

In reply to Angelo Giovas. Here's how you respond: I'm not worthy to sign your Bible. No one is. My signature is meaningless in the Kingdom of God. You cannot worship God and man.

By: Books and Authors in this week’s Wednesday Connect | Christian Book Shop Talk

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 13:52:01 +0000

[…] ■ So the past week brought us the image of Donald Trump autographing Bibles. What’s up with that? Michael Frost probed the subject and didn’t look to far to find those who said Trump was desecrating Christianity’s sacred textbook. […]

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 15:02:48 +0000

one thing not touched on or I missed – and forgiveness to start as I “judge” another, but there is a very real question of whether the PotUS has faith and what that faith is. We know even the demons believe . . . and shudder; and Jesus made clear you will know a tree by it’s fruit. All of which speaks to followers submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Which brings back the question who I would allow to sign my Bible. Someone of deep faith. A Saint. A Bible scholar who honors the word. My brothers and sisters in Christ who have journeyed with me in life . . .

I have been given a Bible after my Walk to Emmaus (look it up). It was signed by all those who served me on that weekend, who showed me the love of Christ. It has value becuase those signatures represent love and community.

Personally, I see no (very little) fruit in Donald Trump and his signing was simply hubris. And that is distasteful – a desecration – not of the Book but what the Book offers us – at its core a message of life through Jesus, signed in blood my many of his followers..

By: Kitty Smith

Kitty Smith — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 12:43:10 +0000

Why? For me, that’s the question. Why would I even ask a celebrity to sign my Bible? Paul? Definitely! As to the care of my Bible, I feel a bit convicted of not treating the book itself as sacred as I should. More importantly, I feel convicted that I often don’t hold its words as sacred as I should in my heart.

By: Marko

Marko — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 08:20:53 +0000

Kia ora Mike, Firstly, I appreciate your blogs – they usually cause me to reflect on an issue in a new way and be better informed. However, this particular blog struck me as seemingly at odds and out of step with the theme and perspective of your other blogs and writings (the ones I have read anyway), so much so that I wondered if someone else wrote it. Maybe I am yet to fully grasp the nuance of your argument. I think Greg Colby poses an interesting question to your piece about what constitutes desecration and what is reverence, which leads to the suggestion it is potentially down to the conscience of the individual/cultural group. If one person thinks that having a celebrity sign their copy of the Bible will desecrate it then it would probably be wise for them to avoid having a celebrity sign their Bible. Your blog reminds me of your discussion around the secular and sacred in The Shaping of Things to Come (which I found profoundly helpful). I wonder how this piece fits in with that? Thanks for your writings/musings/reflections.

By: Angelo Giovas

Angelo Giovas — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 03:18:14 +0000

In reply to Michael Frost. OK Minutes up! :^P :^)

By: Michael Frost

Michael Frost — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 03:00:20 +0000

In reply to Greg Colby.

I’m gonna put marking a bible in the process of studying it in a different category to having “celebrities’ autographing it. One indicates reverence for the text. The other… well, doesn’t!

By: Greg Colby

Greg Colby — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 02:35:57 +0000

Just as I was formulating a comment about the sacredness of our religious text I read exactly the point I was going to make – for Muslims if a Quran touches the ground it is no longer able to be used – it has to be either buried respectfully or burned – it can’t be pulped or recycled or shredded as if it ere just some ordinary book. We Christians I think have lost a great deal of respect for our holy texts – where ever you fall on the continuum of ‘human words used by God’ to God’s words recorded by humans’ there is one thing that we can’t deny – our scriptures have the power to change the very course of human lives and history!

Does that mean we shouldn’t’ get our Bibles signed? I don’t think so, for many doing so actually makes the book even more valuable to them as an encouragement and inspiration.

If writing on a bible desecrates it, what then are we to make of the current trend toward creative journaling on the pages of bibles? Zondervan is getting in on the action by making extra wide margins for drawings and creative work – these do not desecrate the bible as much as make it more useful for people – getting the word deeper into our spirits.

By: Michael Frost

Michael Frost — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 01:24:07 +0000

In reply to Angelo Giovas. Woah, an affirmation from Angelo G?!?! Give me a minute to recover. ;)