When did you last read anything of The Bible from the actual book? There's a UK surge in sales. Why?

rze99

Sales of the Bible reached a record high in the UK in 2025, increasing by 134% since 2019.
This is the highest since records began – according to industry research.
Last year, total sales of Bibles in the UK reached £6.3m, £3.61m up on 2019 sales.

I was brought up by church going parents who stopped going later in life when their main church friends passed away. I think they were initially quite Christian and then it was all about the community and having supportive friends. I stopped going to Church with Mum and Dad when I was about 13 when I stopped even entertaining the idea of an interventionist God. I told them that after learning about the Holocaust in school, nothing could ever convince me that there was a God and certainly not an interventionist God, and I don't think I've read any Bible since then.

Brio

Religious fanaticism is on the rise?

Roland

Is this about the bible, Christianity, or deist religion?

Stratavarious

It’s those algorithms targeting the weak minded and scared..  magic solutions appeal.

rze99

Roland said:

Is this about the bible, Christianity, or deist religion?

whatever you want

TheMadMick

Read it regularly. Maybe the promised revival is coming despite the skepticism of the baby boomers.

Kilgore

I've read the New Testament and parts of the Old.
 Trying to read it from beginning to end has always failed, I get bogged down with those  boring laws in Leviticus, Yahweh is a stickler for rules.

thecolourbox

There are some good stories in there to be fair, but needs some serious editing at times

axisus

I've read the whole thing twice, both a great many years ago. Some of is is really tedious to get through - the description and measurements of the Tabernacle tough going! also so-and-so begat so-and-so going on for pages! 

My takeaway was that quite a lot of good people die, so Gods plan (if one was to assume for now that there is a God) was not to 'rescue' good followers. 

There are certainly interesting parts - some bits it says won't make sense until the time comes. There's a reference to an enemy travelling at great speed over the desert without touching the ground. I remember reading that at the time of the Gulf war and thinking 'interesting' as US and UK jets flew bombing raids over the area.

The part that really fascinates me is Revelations, which has a lot of metaphoric stuff. It mentions the Antichrist - A charismatic person whom many will think is wonderful, A 5 headed beast rising up (5 countries?), and the 'mark of the beast' - without it a person can't buy or sell, implying a future economic system where non-marked individuals are excluded from commerce, including necessities like food. 

Yes, I am one of those irritating Christians! But I have to say that I have 'problems' with a lot of the faith stuff. I stopped going to Church many years ago, so I'm something of a lapsed follower I guess. 

Kilgore

axisus said:

 There's a reference to an enemy travelling at great speed over the desert without touching the ground. I remember reading that at the time of the Gulf war and thinking 'interesting' as US and UK jets flew bombing raids over the area.

That could be Luke's landspeeder.

 Wow! It all makes sense now, the Chosen One, 'I am your father' etc, etc.

topdog91

Brio said:

Religious fanaticism is on the rise?

It's so depressing. Like, the solution to the inevitable shitshow of people taking religion seriously is... People taking a competing religion seriously. It's like a football rivalry, only it dictates how people live their lives and gives them licence to brainwash their kids (okay, maybe not so different).

Where is the voice of "you're all morons" when we need it?

TimmyO

Toilet paper has got more expensive? 

DuploLicks

For Christians , the view of the Bible is it’s God’s word. Never mind structures & institutions of religion or government. If you want to know about God and indeed ‘hear’ Him speaking to you then you must read it. 

A lot of people are now wondering what Christianity is about but won’t go to Church because mainstream Churches are not witnessing foundational Bible truths. I think there’s a spiritual element to that & God has turned away from them - hence this ‘out of Church’ revival that has been reported for the last 6-12 months. 

I came to believe Jesus was the son of God one night while reading the Bible, my growth as a Christian came by attending Church but God did ‘speak’ to me as I read His word. 

As others have said, it’s not a light read. There are amazing stories in it though. I actually enjoy the genealogies, jointing the dots of the names. E.g. the book of Ruth, Boaz the male protagonist is the son of Rahab, the prostitute who hid the spies in Jericho. It’s not spelled out but if you look it’s there. Boaz is in Jesus lineage.

Great book. 10/10. Would read again 

FelineGuitars

I only found out this week that the writing of the book of Revelations in circa 95 ADN was supposedly referring to the Roman Emperor Nero and the prospect of him not being dead and rising back up to come and persecute Christians some more 

........the Book of Revelation contains strong allusions to Emperor Nero, particularly the beast with a mortal wound (Rev 13) and the "eighth king" (Rev 17), reflecting the widespread early Christian belief in the "Nero Redivivus" myth—that Nero, the first major persecutor, had faked his death and would return as the Antichrist to bring final judgment, a belief fuelled by his cruelty, especially blaming Christians for the Great Fire of Rome.

It is therefore such a shame that the church maybe built a little too much on this to conjure visions of eternal damnation and burning for eternity as a means of control and fear-mongering.

I confess that I have not read anything from the bible since my teenage years

Sporky

I've only read the saucy bits.

RaptorCheeses

Last year I read that more and more right-wing types are getting into the bible, which did confuse me.

Now, either you think Jesus was a dusky skinned lad living with other dusky skinned lads and lasses in that region, or you think he was a white skinned lad living amongst dusky skinned lads and lasses in that region.

So right-wing types are now happily following the teachings of either a foreigner, or an immigrant.

dano

Stocking up for the forthcoming book burning

Sporky

I think the authoritarian right (let's not forget that it's possible to be right wing and not evil) are into the old testament rather than anything Jesus said.

tekbow

136% is just over double.

Double of a low number is still a low number, and 3 odd million isnt particularly high compared to the total population of the UK. And I imagine is a good chunk less than the total number of practicing Christians who could potentially buy bibles.

Im genuinely suprised its as high as that though before the increase, youd have thought most people who'd want a bible would have had one.

Someone noted a rise in Christian fanatiscism in the UK. I wonder how many of those bibles end up in the hands of blackshirts who wave them at people without ever reading them.

We need another cable street.

EricTheWeary

RaptorCheeses said:

Last year I read that more and more right-wing types are getting into the bible, which did confuse me.

Now, either you think Jesus was a dusky skinned lad living with other dusky skinned lads and lasses in that region, or you think he was a white skinned lad living amongst dusky skinned lads and lasses in that region.

So right-wing types are now happily following the teachings of either a foreigner, or an immigrant.

Yes Tommy Robinson and Advance UK were doing some this is a Christian country type stuff. 

Haych

Given the state of the world and its current trajectory maybe people are concluding they have nothing to lose by giving it a look.  God knows there's no hope in any political outcome so maybe it's sheer desperation that people are seeking hope somewhere else.