While it is said that 92 percent of Americans own at least one Bible and twenty five million copies are sold every year, the business of how these Bibles move from store shelves to bookshelves in people's homes isn't probably something most people spend a lot of time thinking about.  Think about this for a moment.  If only 8 percent of Americans don't own a Bible already (and probably aren't in the market for one if they haven't picked one up at this point) and the average Bible owner already has four (up from three in 1993), how do you convince people to pick up a new one?

Thomas Nelson, one of the giants of Bible publishing, releases 150 editions of the holy book each year, including this year's American Patriots Bible, for those who feel their freedom and faith are under assault by modern ethics.  While the American Patriots Bible received a positive note from Newt Gingrich, others found the blend of conservative politics and Christianity somewhat offensive, including pastor and author Greg Boyd, who called the concept "idolatrous." While there were likely consumers who were thrilled at the prospect of a Bible with commentaries that extensively quote Ronald Reagan, the danger of publishing a niche title can be that those on the outside of that demographic segment aren't always thrilled with the effort.

It's not as if Republicans have the market cornered on speciality Bibles.  The Stock Car Bible could go either way on party affliation, but if you have liberalish environmental concerns, there's the Green Bible (the verses on stewardship are highlighted).  If you enjoy Japanese comic books, there's a Manga Bible (of course, there's a more Americanized comic strip Bible, as well).   Probably most famously, there are the Bibles that look like magazines for teenagers, or at very least look like what a graphic designer at a Christian publishing house believes magazines for teenage girls look like.

Besides how the Bible is packaged and presented as a commercial item, there are all the translations.  This author is old enough to remember when there was essentially one translation -- the "thee" and "thou" filled King James Version, still the nation's second best-selling translation -- but once the New International Version hit stands in 1978, the floodgates opened to what one website totals as over one hundred English language translations of the Bible currently in print. There are translations that aim for a word-to-word replica of the original text (the New American Standard Version, for example), translations that attempt a more organic approach of discerning what the contextual intent of a passage was (the English Standard Version is one) while retaining the structure of the Greek or Hebrew sentences, or interpolations of the poetry of the Scriptures, attempting to make contemporary the feel of how the text read to the original readers (Eugene Peterson's The Message is the most popular of these).  More recently, the big Bible publishers have commissioned their own copywritten translations (including Tyndale's New Living Translation), a move that some possibly cynical observers think was made to keep all the money in house.

At the recent International Christian Retail Show in Denver, there were bibles everywhere from every publisher, all seeking to convince bookstores that their particular repacking of the Bible is the one consumers will latch on to.  I feel like I've been around churches, Bibles and bookstores for some time, but there were translations I'd never heard of, presented by Christian experts who were a mystery to me, but not too much that would convince me to replace my $2.99 paperback copy of the New International Version, my slightly more expensive study Bible, or the free multi-translation Bible application for my iPhone.  The waterproof Bible one company was selling seemed promising, although I probably don't live a rugged enough lifestyle to justify the purchase.

Still, the overwhelmingly endless parade of Bibles offered makes sense on some level.  Sure, there's a disconcerting aspect of turning what is supposedly a holy book into a commodity, ready to be melded, twisted and turned without much thought of how the medium affects the message (apologies to Marshall McLuhan).  However, the other end of the spectrum is that these publishers are offering new ways for people to engage with (regardless of your particular religious beliefs) one of the most important texts in history.  For those new to the Bible, maybe a cool package makes the experience a little easier.  For those having trouble finding reason to pick up the Bible again, maybe a new commentary brings life to what has become cliched.  I've purchased copies of Anna Karenina because there was a new translation (and on at least one occasion, because I liked the cover) even though I've read that particular book more times than I care to admit.  Why shouldn't the Bible have a chance to be shiny and new again as well?

Top 10 Bibles By Sales, August 2009

The top ten selling Bibles, as recorded by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, August 2009.

1.  Outreach New Testament, English Standard Version, Crossway
2.  Million Bible Project Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson     3.  Abundant Life Bible New Testament, New Living Translation, Tyndale House
4.  Operation Worship Bible, New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers 5.  Thinline Bible (Burgundy Bonded Leather), New International version, Zondervan
6.  Thinline Bible (Navy Bonded Leather), New Living Translation, Zondervan
7.  Adventure Bible (Hardcover), New International Version, Zondervan     8.  Thinline Bible (Black Bonded Leather), New International Version, Zondervan 9.  Gift and Award Bible (Black Leatherflex), King James Version, Thomas Nelson     10. Gift and Award Bible (Blue Leatherflex), New International Version, Thomas Nelson