Costco Bibles Fiction Fiasco Has Christian Pastors Happy… What?
The Costco Bibles fiction fiasco actually has some Christian pastors happy about the controversy.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Costco Bibles were accidentally labeled as “fiction” within a small number of stores.
Over the years, many have either tried to disprove or prove the Bible. For example, one man recently claimed Jesus was a “covert Messiah,” meaning that the Romans made up the entire New Testament as an alternative form of psychological warfare.
But archaeological digs have proven aspects of the Old Testament and some people have offered $10,000 to anyone who can disprove the Bible. The recent events in Syria even had people looking to Bible prophecy for warnings over World War 3.
Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach was the person who first noticed the mishap, and he was invited onto Fox News to talk with Elizabeth Hasselback. This led to an immediate apology for the Costco Bibles by the company:
“We deeply regret the mislabeling of the Bible and meant no offense to anyone. The buyer has let us know that this was an error and the books are being pulled off the shelves to be re-marked. However, we take responsibility and should have caught the mistake. We are correcting this with them for future distribution.”
Steven Smith of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary believes the the Costco Bibles fiction label simply identifies what the person making the labels was thinking:
“To label the Bible fiction is a practical front for an ideological foundation that assumes things spiritual are unreal. What is odd about this choice is the glut of books in the “religion and spirituality” sections in mainstream book stores. However, as large as “spirituality” sections are, there must not be any room for Christianity. Modern thinking on spirituality is too exclusive to allow for the Bible.”
Kaltenbach doesn’t think a boycott over the Costco Bibles is an appropriate answer:
“On the one hand Christians should not yell out ‘persecution.’ We aren’t living in Iraq or Iran. But on the other hand, I believe that we do need to stand up for our faith and we need to be vocal about our concerns.”
Author Robert Jeffress agrees with this sentiment, saying, “Christians need to call out organizations like Costco whose actions undermine Christianity – regardless of whether those actions are accidental or intentional.”
But Kaltenbach believes Costco when they said it was an error. He was “not outraged, angry, or stunned” when he first noticed the mislabeled Costco Bibles. In fact, he “thought the label at Costco on the Bible was interesting.” He hopes that God will “use this topic to spark conversations on faith and His Word.”
Costco has Bibles for sale under the genre of FICTION
Hmmmm…… pic.twitter.com/mLZVogkSfd
— Caleb Kaltenbach (@calebwilds) November 15, 2013
The Inquisitr spoke to a local pastor named Michael Schuster and he agreed the controversy could help:
“As Paul says all things can be used for good for those who called to his purpose. God is God and He can use everything in any situation. But scripture is true and I can understand how people can use this event as a witness tool to explain how the Bible is true.”
Do you think the Costco Bibles fiction controversy is a good or bad thing?
