Laura Miller writes in Salon about Timothy Beal’s new book on the Bible in American culture.  Entitled The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book, Beal’s work describes “biblical consumerism,” a situation in which the average American household owns nine bibles, purchases one a year (so what happened to the others), and yet most Americans are biblically illiterate.

Some of the most interesting chapters in “The Rise and Fall of the Bible” explore the world of Bibles created for specific subcultures and needs: the manly Metal Bible and Duct Tape Bible, kicky handbag/Bible combos and special editions geared toward teenagers, African-American women and so on. These can contain as much as 50 percent “supplemental” material, “explaining” the scripture according to the taste of the intended audience. Then there are Biblezines, publications in which articles about how to grill steaks or talk to girls (in the case of a Biblezine for boys) share the page with biblical quotations. Well-meaning older relatives give this material to young Christians, hoping it will make the Bible itself seem more “readable.” Beal thinks the kids just wind up reading the articles and skipping the quotations. He compares Biblezines to the “sweeter and more colorful roll-ups, punches, sauces and squirtable foams that I buy for my kids’ lunches” in lieu of the unprocessed fresh fruit they refuse to eat. At least you can tell yourself you’re giving them fruit.

Beal bemoans biblical illiteracy and those who want to interpret scripture literally. In fact, he sees a direct relation between the proliferation of niche bibles and the end of a search for certainty in scripture. I’m not so sure, and while I find the marketing of bibles to small subgroups of the population both odd and somewhat amusing, I don’t know that contemporary “biblical consumerism” is all that much different from what happened in earlier generations.

Take the Gideons, for example. They provide bibles in hotel rooms, hospitals, and the like, and distribute them on college campuses and elsewhere. I can’t remember where I was teaching at the time, but I recall coming into class one day (a Bible class, no doubt) and the students were joking about the New Testaments that were being passed out on the sidewalk.

For those passing out the bibles, they are a symbol of their own faithfulness as well as a means of reaching out and converting people. In past generations, a bible had a pride of place in many homes–a lavishly illustrated and bound volume displayed on an end table or coffee table in a living room. I doubt whether that particular bible was opened and read but its presence sent a message to all who saw it.

My sense is that the consumerism Beal describes has much more to do with the commercialization of Christianity–companies trying to make a buck–than with profound changes in biblical interpretation in the culture. Need a gift for a graduate? Why not buy the college-student’s bible?

Yes, there is rampant and growing biblical illiteracy, even in the South, and even among conservative Christians. It always amused me when freshmen figured out in the second week of class that the Bible course they took because they were certain it would be easy, turned out to be much more difficult than they anticipated, because in spite of their deep faith and regular church-going, they only ever read bits and pieces, at most. Then there was the kid who after I made an aside in another class, asked who Adam and Eve were.