Should all Christian books be free of charge?

[NathChristian]

There are a lot of poeple who criticize christians for making money using the Word of God.
would it be wrong to write a christian book and sell it?
Matthew 10:8 says "Freely you have received; freely give."
So, selling christian stuff would be wrong?

Thanks

 

[topher694]

No, absolutely nothing wrong with selling a Christian book.

 

[timewerx]

It means the poor won't be able to buy it.

Obviously, the poor might be able to afford it but since they're poor, they would rather spend their money on other things more useful to their immediate survival.

 

[timewerx]

One solution so that the poor may be able to procure your book is print them in two different quality levels.

One is cheap "newspaper-quality" print which you can distribute to the poor for free or at cost.

The other is regular print quality which you can sell for a profit.

Win-win??

We only need to care or consider the poor in everything we do... - how we treat the least of our brothers and sisters is how we treat HIM.

 

[TuxAme]

There's nothing wrong with it. Time goes into writing books- time which could have been spent earning money through an employer. There's also the fact that it costs money to acquire the materials to print the books, and odds are that the companies which provide them aren't willing to give them out for free.

 

[NathChristian]

There's nothing wrong with it. Time goes into writing books- time which could have been spent earning money through an employer. There's also the fact that it costs money to acquire the materials to print the books, and odds are that the companies which provide them aren't willing to give them out for free.

what about ebooks then? should ebooks be free because you do not spend money on materials?

 

[ripple the car]

what about ebooks then? should ebooks be free because you do not spend money on materials?

They can be. But still, there is nothing wrong with choosing to profit from something that you have taken the time, energy, prayer, and thought to write, edit, and publish. Even electronically.

 

[-Sasha-]

I don't know that there is anything wrong with making money from a book you write, but I do like the idea of having free copies available either on cheap materials or digital format as well as a purchasable version.

 

[maintenance man]

would it be wrong to write a christian book and sell it?

1 Corinthians 9:9-14 (NIV)

"For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."

Your work deserves reward.

You can give the book away to those who cannot afford to buy it.

You can use the money to help those in need.

 

[Sketcher]

Not sinful. Do take great care as to what you write, though (James 3:1).

 

[Joined2krist]

I guess it's up to the author. For someone getting donations to print books, it's good to give them out free but if you have to use your resources to produce them, you've got to earn something so that you can produce more helpful, Christian books

 

[Andrew77]

There are a lot of poeple who criticize christians for making money using the Word of God.
would it be wrong to write a christian book and sell it?
Matthew 10:8 says "Freely you have received; freely give."
So, selling christian stuff would be wrong?

Thanks

I don't know. I've know pastors that worked at their church completely free, and made money on their books. The sale of the book, allowed him to pastor his church for free.

So.... I think it's up to the author.

What if your job, or your career is to be an author?

I would assume you wouldn't write a non-christian book. So if you write christian books, and your career is to be an author... should you starve to death, because someone thinks christian books should be free?

I mean, everything we do, we do for the Lord, correct?

 

[trophy33]

Yes, with internet, no book has to be printed, everything can be given to public for free.

Who wants a print, he can buy the print, not the information. The information must be free.

 

[God saves]

I do think everybody, whether they are materially poor or rich, should be able to access the Bible. The Bible I bought from a bookstore (and I think if I recall correctly that may have been the only Bible there) cost nearly the equivalent of $25 US dollars, which may not sound unaffordable but there are people in the world who are struggling to pay rent and food (and some who are homeless). I am not criticising the fact that the Bible cost money, but I do think ways should be found for everyone to have access to a Bible (perhaps by donating Bibles).

Where I live you can access the Bible in the reference section of a library, so where I live if one was able to get themselves to a library (i.e. had time and had money for transportation if needed) they can probably have access to the Bible provided they were able to read it.

As for access to reading the Bible, there are people who are illiterate as well as people who are blind, so unless they knew someone was willing to read a Bible to them I think maybe access to a Bible should be considered (such as audio Bibles and Bibles in braille).