What a great example of advocacy w/ the collaborative, articulate, & successful petitioning of Zondervan! Let us confess & lament this Lent, Good Friday, & each day (Ps 139.) Let's pray & empower ourselves, pastors, Bible study leaders, teachers, orgs, & small groups to consider & confess our idolatry of nation-worship (ie: "GBtUSA Bible" too). Dr. Tisby's "Parable of the Large White Church" articulates our church struggles w/ our greed. Some U.S. churches outsource to nonprofits for less controversy. Often, it seems that nonprofits are the hands & feet of Jesus plus hold the difficult conversations.
Today we're still bound to greed--not as a nation chosen & blessed by God--but on the lasting impact of our greed w/ chattel slavery & continued marginalization of our people with more melanin who are also made with equal amounts of God's image. The church of Acts addressed when some of their diverse members were passed over. May believers, as the Church, be more like the Church in Acts with diverse leaders too.
Jemar - thank you for this piece. I was curious why the new "Bible" was in the "trusted" KJV and not one of the more contemporary translations. This was helpful.
Send in the comedians!!! Fight misinformation with....humor.
Perhaps it is time to use techniques employed during WWII by British journalist and head of special operations for the Political Warfare Executive, Sefton Delmer, who created radio programs mocking Nazi elites. Per below:
" According to declassified UK government files, researched by historian and archivist Lee Richards, around 40% of German soldiers tuned into Delmer’s stations. An SS Obergruppenführer from Munich complained that Delmer’s stations were among the top three in the city and were causing complete havoc. Goebbels was dismayed by how effective they were."
• Just don’t buy it and get as many people as you can to do the same. If nobody buys them they will stop selling them. I learned this in my second year economics course.
• But wait, according to you, half the country is, as you so broadly define them,. “White Christian Nationalists.” Since they are, as you put it, predisposed to such a Bible, maybe calling attention to it would be free advertising, encouraging more purchases.
• For example, I delete all political emails without reading them, so I knew nothing about this Bible until you brought it to my attention.
• Now I intend to buy one as a replacement for the traditional Family Bible in which we used to record family facts like births, deaths and weddings.
• I especially like the fact that it has copies of our country’s founding documents for easy reference.
Thank you, Dr. Tisby, for bringing this Bible to my attention!
My Black seminary professor first brought you to my attention and that of my Black preacher classmates when he played a video of you speaking. You were discussed quite favorably in our Multicultural Ministry in America course. It was years ago but I have been following you off and on ever since.
Jemar Tisby you continue to shine Christ light on our real enemies schemes.🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
What a great example of advocacy w/ the collaborative, articulate, & successful petitioning of Zondervan! Let us confess & lament this Lent, Good Friday, & each day (Ps 139.) Let's pray & empower ourselves, pastors, Bible study leaders, teachers, orgs, & small groups to consider & confess our idolatry of nation-worship (ie: "GBtUSA Bible" too). Dr. Tisby's "Parable of the Large White Church" articulates our church struggles w/ our greed. Some U.S. churches outsource to nonprofits for less controversy. Often, it seems that nonprofits are the hands & feet of Jesus plus hold the difficult conversations.
Today we're still bound to greed--not as a nation chosen & blessed by God--but on the lasting impact of our greed w/ chattel slavery & continued marginalization of our people with more melanin who are also made with equal amounts of God's image. The church of Acts addressed when some of their diverse members were passed over. May believers, as the Church, be more like the Church in Acts with diverse leaders too.
I note Faithful America's resources on white Christian Nationalism (wCN) & for pastors & Bible studies too (https://act.faithfulamerica.org/signup/christian-nationalism-resources/)
Sergio Hernandez & Nat Lash, "Fortune 500 Companies Have Given Millions to Election Deniers Since Jan. 6," ProPublica, Updated Dec. 18, 2023. (notation of which company explicitly denounced support) ....but reinvested, https://projects.propublica.org/fortune-500-company-election-deniers-jan-6/
I'll keep asking myself how I can creatively counter wCN like Jesus of Nazareth challenged falsehoods during His life & through His death.
Thank you for your dogged perseverance in this sphere of influence.
I affirm your stance here. I feel offended by this mixing of church and state in the form of the Bible.
i feel it is evil thinking and advocacy to make money and political gains.
Ted johnstone
Thank you. Continue to stand up for right and truth!
Jemar - thank you for this piece. I was curious why the new "Bible" was in the "trusted" KJV and not one of the more contemporary translations. This was helpful.
Revelation 22:18-- if anyone adds anything to the words of prophecy of this book, God will add to him all the plagues...
Here is my AMEN to your article:
https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathanbrownson/p/whats-your-purpose?r=gdp9j&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Send in the comedians!!! Fight misinformation with....humor.
Perhaps it is time to use techniques employed during WWII by British journalist and head of special operations for the Political Warfare Executive, Sefton Delmer, who created radio programs mocking Nazi elites. Per below:
" According to declassified UK government files, researched by historian and archivist Lee Richards, around 40% of German soldiers tuned into Delmer’s stations. An SS Obergruppenführer from Munich complained that Delmer’s stations were among the top three in the city and were causing complete havoc. Goebbels was dismayed by how effective they were."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/02/the-man-who-tricked-nazi-germany-lessons-from-the-past-on-how-to-beat-disinformation
How about these suggestions?:
• Just don’t buy it and get as many people as you can to do the same. If nobody buys them they will stop selling them. I learned this in my second year economics course.
• But wait, according to you, half the country is, as you so broadly define them,. “White Christian Nationalists.” Since they are, as you put it, predisposed to such a Bible, maybe calling attention to it would be free advertising, encouraging more purchases.
• For example, I delete all political emails without reading them, so I knew nothing about this Bible until you brought it to my attention.
• Now I intend to buy one as a replacement for the traditional Family Bible in which we used to record family facts like births, deaths and weddings.
• I especially like the fact that it has copies of our country’s founding documents for easy reference.
Thank you, Dr. Tisby, for bringing this Bible to my attention!
My Black seminary professor first brought you to my attention and that of my Black preacher classmates when he played a video of you speaking. You were discussed quite favorably in our Multicultural Ministry in America course. It was years ago but I have been following you off and on ever since.
I appreciate Dr. Tisby's words & folks' various discussions, which I pray wCNs may consider:
Dr. Jemar Tisby quoted, "The Christian Reaction to Trump’s Bible Endorsement Goes Deeper Than You Think," https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/28/us/donald-trump-bible-christianity-cec/index.html
Dr. Esau McCaulley, "There’s No Such Thing as an American Bible," https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/31/opinion/trump-bible-america.html?smid=url-share
"Christian Leaders React to Trump’s ‘God Bless the USA’ Bible," https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/2956722/christian-leaders-react-to-trump-bible/"
"... Donald Trump, White Evangelicals, and the 2024 Election," 1A podcast, https://the1a.org/segments/if-you-can-keep-it-donald-trump-white-evangelicals-and-the-2024-election/