Giving the Bible As a Gift: find My 2019 Guide at First Things
Here’s a thought for Christmas gift-giving: put a new Bible under the tree. This guide should give you some ideas.
First Things asked me to give readers some ideas for giving the Bible as a gift this Christmas, updating the list I made for them in 2012. This time I focused on two themes: (a) reader’s editions and (b) interesting design. If you’re looking for inspiration, you can check out my thoughts on the First Things blog:
CHRISTMAS GUIDE TO BUYING A BIBLE: 2019 EDITION
Or click the image below:
You can read the original 2012 list here. I also wrote a 2015 supplement that is worth checking out here. All of the recommendation are worth considering. As you can imagine, with so many fantastic options available, it wasn’t easy to narrow down the list. Have I left out any of your favorites? If so, I would love to hear about it in the comments.
The Logic of Gifts
Let me say a word about the logic of gift-giving, which I could only touch upon in the list. The best gifts, to my mind, are the ones you delight in receiving but would never be able to justify giving yourself. The obstacle to getting it yourself might be financial — there are Bibles you might love to have, but would never be able to spend so much on — but there are other considerations. For example, a lot of people might baulk at purchasing an edition without chapter and verse numbers because it seems impractical, too specialized. Or they talk themselves out of a nicely-bound edition because they would only abuse it: “The luxury would be wasted on me.” Another, more Bible-specific factor, has to do with translations. You might admire something like Bibliotheca, which I put at the top of my list, but be reluctant to commit since the translation is not one you use.
A gift is an opportunity to disrupt that utilitarian logic. There is always a touch of the lavish in gifts, a hint of excess. Gifts are always susceptible to criticism in this regard. They are unnecessary, wasteful, gratuitous. Some high-minded kill-joy is always on hand to suggest that the gift could have been sold and the proceeds donated to a worthy cause (see John 12.5). Yet it is precisely this air of indulgence — let’s face it, of grace — that lends beauty to the reception of such a gift.
The Bible (any Bible) makes a wonderful gift. My suggestion is to consider the formats, editions, and translations that the recipient might not ordinarily consider, or feel able to justify. And don’t be afraid, in giving the gift, to point out that all our human gift-giving is only a type and shadow of a greater gift that the Bible (any Bible) proclaims.
Follow us on Instagram
About J. Mark Bertrand: "I am a novelist, a lecturer, and a typographer. I am a Presbyterian teaching elder and a Southern ex-pat. I am fascinated by pens and paper, printing, books, and anything to do with leather. I live, mainly, in the past." For more, read the full bio.
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.
Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.
Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
