Should free Bibles be given to non-Christians?

ByTheSpirit · Aug 10, 2023

If you think about it gospel tracts do just this. A person doesn't need a whole book to find God, just a single verse or passage would do. Most any translation allows a rather generous amount of their translation to be quoted without charge. Some allow the whole thing, KJV, BSB (Berean Study Bible). So instead of asking if we should, why not do it? Write a verse or two on a piece of paper and give it out to people

dzheremi · Aug 10, 2023

Do you guys remember when St. Mark, the Apostle to the Egyptians, brought the Bible to Egypt and handed it out to random Egyptians in order to convert them?

Yeah, me neither.

ByTheSpirit · Aug 10, 2023

dzheremi said:
Do you guys remember when St. Mark, the Apostle to the Egyptians, brought the Bible to Egypt and handed it out to random Egyptians in order to convert them?

Yeah, me neither.

I can't seem to recall any of the Apostles getting on the internet to fellowship with other Christians either, yet here you are.

PsaltiChrysostom · Aug 10, 2023

30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Divide · Aug 10, 2023

dzheremi said:
Do you guys remember when St. Mark, the Apostle to the Egyptians, brought the Bible to Egypt and handed it out to random Egyptians in order to convert them?

Yeah, me neither.

Nevertheless people still bibles in these last days. I bought a case of 40 economy bibles (NKJV) and have been giving them away and saving a few hidden in the house for the time that Bibles are declared illegal. At some point you wont be able to buy a bible anymore.

Do you need one? I'll send it to you. It's paperback and comapact. I'd do that for you even if St. Mark wouldn't.

dzheremi · Aug 10, 2023

ByTheSpirit said:
I can't seem to recall any of the Apostles getting on the internet to fellowship with other Christians either, yet here you are.

I don't know that this counts as "fellowship with other Christians" (this isn't an agape meal or anything), but okay. My point wasn't that we must do everything exactly as the apostles do anyway (though obviously they are our models in all ways), but rather this idea of "just give people the Bible and they'll convert" is a very modern one that is antithetical to the examples that we have of how entire nations were originally converted in the first place. It is rather as PsaltiChrysostomos has put it subsequently -- people need to be taught the Bible. It's not self-interpreting. ViaCrucis is correct that the place to encounter the scriptures is in Church. The Bible is a book of the Church, written and canonized and interpreted by her.

Divide · Aug 10, 2023

dzheremi said:
I don't know that this counts as "fellowship with other Christians" (this isn't an agape meal or anything), but okay. My point wasn't that we must do everything exactly as the apostles do anyway (though obviously they are our models in all ways), but rather this idea of "just give people the Bible and they'll convert" is a very modern one that is antithetical to the examples that we have of how entire nations were originally converted in the first place. It is rather as PsaltiChrysostomos has put it subsequently -- people need to be taught the Bible. It's not self-interpreting. ViaCrucis is correct that the place to encounter the scriptures is in Church. The Bible is a book of the Church, written and canonized and interpreted by her.

Give the Holy Spirit some credit and remember that He can convict them and make them want to read it. All we do is plant seeds. God gives the increase. So, yeah...give them a bible! Just in case they do read it!

dzheremi · Aug 10, 2023

Divide said:
Give the Holy Spirit some credit and remember that He can convict them and make them want to read it. All we do is plant seeds. God gives the increase. So, yeah...give them a bible! Just in case they do read it!

Perhaps I should clarify. I'm not against giving out Bibles; I'm against giving out Bibles with no interpretive aides, as the Bible is to be understood within the context of the Church which wrote, canonized, and preaches it, not on its own as some kind of independent, free-floating document that everyone just figures out for themselves, independent of any oversight or boundary. That's how weird cults get started.

Divide · Aug 10, 2023

dzheremi said:
Perhaps I should clarify. I'm not against giving out Bibles; I'm against giving out Bibles with no interpretive aides, as the Bible is to be understood within the context of the Church which wrote, canonized, and preaches it, not on its own as some kind of independent, free-floating document that everyone just figures out for themselves, independent of any oversight or boundary. That's how weird cults get started.

Hmmm. I have a scripture coming to mind.

1 John 2:27
27 But you have received the Holy Spirit,[h] and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit[i] teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ..../NLT

John 16:13
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.../KJV

You see, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. His job is to teach us all truth. So all we have to do is to get that bible in their hands and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. That bible will call to them. I've heard the testimony, lol.

I read it for myself. And the Holy Spirit talks to me while I read it. I found that, the more that I read it, the more I take it literally. But I've never formed a cult, lol. Nobody donates to me except the Lord.

dzheremi · Aug 10, 2023

That's fine for you, I suppose. I'm referring to the practice in the apostolic Church, whereby no one ruled or rules by what they personally thought of a text, or presumed to be guided by the Holy Spirit without confirmation that they were not in fact suffering from prelest. Witness, for instance, St. Paul's famous conversion on the road to Damascus. That was a true vision, of course, but the instruction given was that St. Paul go into town and meet the preexisting Christians there. We are called to be in community, hence the same St. Paul would eventually address his epistles to the Christians of particular cities or regions.

PsaltiChrysostom · Aug 10, 2023

It's not about handing out free Bibles, and I apologize for making light of your efforts. There are plenty of organizations that do hand out free Bibles. Most of the time it is Christians who are going to end up reading them.

Divide · Aug 11, 2023

PsaltiChrysostom said:
It's not about handing out free Bibles, and I apologize for making light of your efforts. There are plenty of organizations that do hand out free Bibles. Most of the time it is Christians who are going to end up reading them.

And if their not, they might be soon!

Divide · Aug 12, 2023

PsaltiChrysostom said:
It's not about handing out free Bibles, and I apologize for making light of your efforts. There are plenty of organizations that do hand out free Bibles. Most of the time it is Christians who are going to end up reading them.

maybe because it takes one evening to become a Christian and become born again. but it takes a lifetime to read the Bible. It's like a military field manual almost. We woke up on this planet with amnesia but we have a field manual with us for a clue!

I ordered a case of bibles with the intention of giving them away. To those people who didn't go to that organization that day. I trust churches less and less these days. We are the church. We shouldn't delegate this responsibility to the organization necessarily. I stopped paying my tithes to a church also. I give it to the people who need it. The poor on the street. Every little bit helps.

I'm not saying you're wrong. Many organizations do a good work for the Lord. But there's nothing like cutting out the middleman and putting it into someones hand who needs it. Then after their conversion evening, they are a Christian reading the bible. So you are right! Because that's what Christians do. And if you don't read your own bible, maybe you should!

AlexB23 · Aug 12, 2023

Raika said:
I think all Bibles should be given for free to everyone.

Agreed. Churches should have free Bibles to newcomers, and bookstores should have bibles where one can chose a donation amount to purchase, a PWYW system (pay-what-you-want).

Hypothetical, as in if I ran a bookstore, say the store is called Alex Books Company ( AB. Co): If a person walks up to the AB. Co bookstore, and could only afford $0.25 for the Bible, she/he can get it. If a person wants to pay $25.00 for the Bible, he/she can as well. If a person truly can not donate a single cent to get a Bible, he/she can just grab it and walk out of my store without question.

Raika · Aug 20, 2023

AlexB23 said:
Agreed. Churches should have free Bibles to newcomers, and bookstores should have bibles where one can chose a donation amount to purchase, a PWYW system (pay-what-you-want).

Hypothetical, as in if I ran a bookstore, say the store is called Alex Books Company ( AB. Co): If a person walks up to the AB. Co bookstore, and could only afford $0.25 for the Bible, she/he can get it. If a person wants to pay $25.00 for the Bible, he/she can as well. If a person truly can not donate a single cent to get a Bible, he/she can just grab it and walk out of my store without question.

A church with tax exemption status should offer free Bibles to anyone, not just newcomers. As for bookstores... they are private businesses.. It's up to the church to provide the free word of god to everyone that wants to listen.

biblelesson · Aug 20, 2023

There is so much misunderstanding here, and lack of knowledge, and wrong judgment against who should or should not get a Bible.

We are servants. None of us wrote the Bible, died on the cross, nor can offer salvation, and definitely we do not do the work of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation has nothing to do with us. It’s God’s free gift to those He calls. Who calls? God!

We are given ministries, Romans 12:7-9 KJV. It’s the Holy Spirit that guides us in our ministries. We are not suppose to wonder who to give the Bible to. If we hand out bibles, maybe that is the work the Holy Spirit is guiding us to do. We are not God, and have no right to judge anyone, or circumstances - the person you chose not to give a Bible to, might really need it. God may have put that person in your life.

Also, many of us don’t understand our roles as God’s people. We are also watchmen: Ezekiel 33:6 KJV, “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take anyperson from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.”

Don’t risk God asking you why you didn’t give his son or daughter a Bible!

While a person is judging not to give a Bible to someone based on their own carnal (not guided by the holy spirit) understanding, someone’s salvation might be hindered.

God predestinates, God calls, God justifies, God sanctified, not us!

Either we do the work of God, and let the Holy Spirit do His Work, or we remain a hinderance to the gospel.

When God sets us apart and calls us in Christ Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit. Because we are in the spiritual realm, we are open for attacks by Satan. That’s a sign of a true believer. From that point God will move us into His power. This is why we are told to “count it all joy.”

biblelesson · Aug 20, 2023

dzheremi said:
I don't know that this counts as "fellowship with other Christians" (this isn't an agape meal or anything), but okay. My point wasn't that we must do everything exactly as the apostles do anyway (though obviously they are our models in all ways), but rather this idea of "just give people the Bible and they'll convert" is a very modern one that is antithetical to the examples that we have of how entire nations were originally converted in the first place. It is rather as PsaltiChrysostomos has put it subsequently -- people need to be taught the Bible. It's not self-interpreting. ViaCrucis is correct that the place to encounter the scriptures is in Church. The Bible is a book of the Church, written and canonized and interpreted by her.

Only the Holy Spirit can teach us the Bible. No human person. A teacher can plant and water, but God gives the increase, 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 KJV,
6 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase,” 7 “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

AlexB23 · Aug 21, 2023

Raika said:
A church with tax exemption status should offer free Bibles to anyone, not just newcomers. As for bookstores... they are private businesses.. It's up to the church to provide the free word of god to everyone that wants to listen.

I agree on that. It should be on the churches to provide the Bibles. If someone goes up to a bookstore, and couldn't afford a Bible, the store should ideally recommend a nearby church to get a Bible from instead (as a form of courtesy).

PsaltiChrysostom · Aug 21, 2023

We have Bibles available if someone asks. However, some of our copies are pretty expensive so those would need to be purchased. For example, an Orthodox Study Bible with both OT and NT retails for $50.

AlexB23 · Aug 21, 2023

PsaltiChrysostom said:
We have Bibles available if someone asks. However, some of our copies are pretty expensive so those would need to be purchased. For example, an Orthodox Study Bible with both OT and NT retails for $50.

Whew, that's a lot for some people.

Should free Bibles be given to non-Christians?

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