How do you throw away a Bible? After some saints of my church decided to clear out our Sunday School storage area (who wants to do that job?), an unusual question was posed. “What do we do with damaged Bibles?” I was not quite sure how to answer the question. I figured we could donate the Bibles to the Salvation Army or another religious non-profit.
After the damaged Bibles sat in a box outside of my office for a week, another church member asked about the Bibles. I told her that we were going to donate the Holy books. She picked up one of the Bibles and pages started fall out. “We are going to donate these? How do we through away a Bible?” The look on her face told me that these Bibles were not worthy to give to anyone and she was right. How can you tell others about Christ when the end of the book of Luke is missing?
How do you throw away a Bible? That question just seems wrong. I believe the proper question is, “How do you properly dispose of damaged Bibles?” You cannot just burn them. I think. That just evokes images of Nazi Germany and book burning. A nutty pastor recently created a controversial event, “Burn a Koran Day.” Not the route we want to go here folks.
After some research, I discovered the answer to the question, “How do you properly dispose of damaged Bibles? The answer is:
…there is no “right way.”
For Jews, they bury damaged Torah scrolls and even put the scrolls in a mini-“coffin”. A service follows. In Catholicism, there are rites to dispose of Bibles, but none are prescribed by church law. I read an online discussion room about this matter and Catholics jokes they wished their church Bibles were worn out (that would be a good sign of use). One lady even said in her 30 years as a parish employee, she never ran into the problem!
Here are some possible disposal options:
- Recycle it. It is better that the Good Book could be put into something useful than just ending up in a land fill.
- Repair it. The best option, but not cost effective.
- Donate it. Who wants a Bible with missing pages? Would you want to read a book that is missing the ending?
- Burn it. Remember that book burning scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?
- Bury it. Seems respectable.
The issue at hand is just how reverent do you treat the Bible? RBC Ministries has a take on this issue:
…even though we don’t venerate the Bible as a physical object, we should treat old Bibles with respect because of the sacred truth they contain.even though we don’t venerate the Bible as a physical object, we should treat old Bibles with respect because of the sacred truth they contain. It is somewhat a matter of Christian liberty how we dispose of an old Bible.
Though we see the Bible as holy, we do not worship the Bible. We worship God. However, we respect and cherish God’s word. In turn, we must respect and cherish the words that have inspired us to become Christians. Thus, we should have a way in which we relieve a Bible’s duty to communicate God’s word because the book is not in readable condition.
My vote is for burial and to have a short liturgy. When communion is unused, many churches commit the elements to the ground. Should we do the same with Bibles? How do you throw away a Bible?
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6 Comments
With the burial, how about taking an offering to buy replacement Bibles or to give to a Bible outreach mission?
That’s a great idea Phyllis 🙂
I would opt for burning the bible, in a personal, reflective manner. This is the (proper and approved) way that we dispose of our US flags. We get together with our neighbors and do it as a small group, usually in the evening when you can appreciate the flames and what they are representing. I do have to say that I like the idea of ‘burial’ if the bible is placed in a box of sorts, or wrapped in a nice cloth…it seems to recognize the fact that this is God’s word, making it special and deserving of tender care.
I believe the Good Book should be respected and I cherish all that it has taught me but in my eyes it is just a tool used to deliver God’s word. Once the tool has outlived its usefulness it no longer serves its purpose. I think a damaged or worn out Bible should be recycled.
As the Qoheleth writes, “Of the making of many books, there is no end.” The same can be said of Bibles, of which there are literally billions of spare copies floating around the world … disposal is an issue. But for my money, I think that only the attitude matters. Whether one burns a Bible or throws it away or donates it or buries it, so long as one doesn’t intend sacrilege–as, of course, the Florida Qur’an burner does–all seems well. Otherwise, as you note, Pastor Rudnick, we risk walking down the path of what Coleridge called bibliolatry.
Hmm. I agree that intention is more important than method in this situation. Recycling the Bibles would probably be the most stewardly method of “disposal”. I definitely think that a prayer of thanks is in order as well — until I saw your picture of said unsightly Bibles stacked on the table, I hadn’t much considered their actual past use. I’m thinking of past 4th and 5th graders who fumbled through those books on their way to Acts. I’m thinking about the teachers who patiently waited while their students stumbled over the words, and then helped them understand the message of those words. I’m thinking about the imp who marked on the back cover of one of the books and the relationships that the children formed with one another and with their teachers while studying the Bible. I’m thankful for the power of God’s Word to transform lives.