The Bible is Called Holy for a Reason
By Mary Daily
My father, a Christian minister, sold Bibles for many years. In particular, he sold the Dickson Analytical Study Bible, a beautiful, thick volume that contained many aids for studying the Word of God — a dictionary of Bible terms, an outline of each book, contemporaneous history, a concordance, maps, a comprehensive index, and more.
He sold this Bible to make extra money for our family, but more so because he saw how useful it was for true Bible study, which he believed was key to living a Christian life. He didn’t peddle it door-to-door, but rather demonstrated to Christians he knew how useful it was for familiarizing themselves with the inspired Word of God. He would often arrange to drop by someone’s home on Sunday afternoon or following an evening worship service to show them the Bible’s many features. As a child, I sometimes went along. I sat quietly, waiting for my favorite part of the presentation, when he pulled out the ring of little swatches of possible bindings, including fine Moroccan leather. You could have your name embossed in gold leaf on the front cover.
Each of us in our family had our own personalized Dickson Bible, which we were expected to study, well, religiously.
My father would have refused to sell a Bible emblazoned with a U.S. flag, even though he was a staunch American patriot, because he was an even more adamant believer in the separation of church and state. He knew the Bible belonged to no one nation or group of people. The Bible doesn’t say, “For God so loved the United States,” but rather “For God so loved the world.”
The fact that Donald Trump, the most immoral public figure of my lifetime, is selling Bibles as a commodity, just as he sells golden sneakers, is a travesty, a ploy to try to associate himself with Bible believers long enough to get their votes. But he is far from worthy of that association, and his attempt to join their ranks is akin to blasphemy. How dare he purloin a sacred book whose most basic teachings he violates with twisted arrogance!
For those of us who revere the sanctity of scripture, this insult may be his most offensive, deplorable move yet, a blatant sacrilege cutting at the heart of true Christianity. This is not about tromping on our views of equality or climate change or economics, but about degrading the very basis of the faith that guides us day by day.
