What is The Most Well Known Scripture Verse?

Christmas,

If you asked the people at your church, “What is the most well known passage of scripture in America?” most might say it’s John 3:16.

But the answer might actually be Luke 2:8-14. Here is why:

In the summer of 1965 television executives approached Charles Schultz, creator of Peanuts, about writing, drawing, and animating a Charlie Brown and Snoopy Christmas TV special.

Schultz and his team finished the Christmas cartoon a week and a half before the broadcast date. Most of the production team believed the special would be a complete disaster. They didn’t like the music, the storyline, or the message at the end.

Television executives even said they would have canceled the program had their TV schedule allowed it.

On December 9, 1965, an estimated 15.5 million homes tuned in to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It has aired every December since.

The simple story is part of what makes this Christmas special so endearing. Charlie Brown searches for the true meaning of Christmas. The answer finally comes when Linus van Pelt recites Luke 2:8-14:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Because of the Charlie Brown Christmas special, Luke 2:8-14 may be the most widely heard passage of scripture from the entire Bible. It certainly is the most widely broadcasted in the history of television. For nearly six decades, millions of children and adults have heard these words each December.

You can watch Linus recite this famous passage of scripture by clicking here.

This December, may you and your family take time to remember “what Christmas is all about.” Thank you for your friendship and support to Family Council and the Education Alliance.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Bible Sales Jumped 22% in America This Year

Religion,

The Wall Street Journal reports Americans are buying more Bibles this year.

From January through October of 2024, book tracker Circana BookScan found that Bible sales were up 22% compared to the same time period last year.

Overall, sales of printed books have risen 1% this year — meaning people are buying more books, but Bible sales far outpaced the sale of other books.

According to the article, the increase in Bible sales has been driven by factors such as rising anxiety and a search for meaning, noting:

“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” said Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”

The article also noted that this jump in Bible sales comes despite evidence that Americans are growing less religious:

The Pew Research Center found that about 28% of adults in the U.S. now consider themselves religiously unaffiliated. Yet Bible sales rose to 14.2 million in 2023 from 9.7 million in 2019, and hit 13.7 million in the first 10 months of this year. Readers are also stocking up on related titles that provide guidance, insights and context—even sets of stickers to flag particularly meaningful passages. 

By most accounts, the Bible is the bestselling book of all time and the single most widely-read book in the history of human civilization. The Bible has had such a profound impact on American society that in 2013 Arkansas lawmakers passed Act 1440 letting public schools offer elective academic courses where students may learn about “the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, culture, and politics.”

It’s good to see more Americans turning to the Bible for the answers to life’s challenges. Of course, it isn’t enough simply to own a Bible. The Bible is meant to be read, learned, and lived out in daily life. Still, buying a Bible is a great start.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Human Dignity, Sexual Morality, and Counter-Cultural Christianity

Worldview,

Recently there have been a series of high-profile allegations and cases of sexual harassment and predation — the latest being Hollywood magnate Harvey Weinstein.

Many have pointed out these are not isolated incidents. Sexual exploitation, harassment, and assault have become far too common.

Amid this dark culture, it’s important to remember the pagan world to which the gospel was first taken nearly 2,000 years ago. Our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview write,

With the exception of a few highborn women, Roman women were often treated worse than Roman cattle. Even upper-class women were little more than possessions and, when it came to sexuality, they were at their husband’s beck and call and could be disposed of at will.

Slave women, which were a full third of Rome’s female population, could expect beatings and rape. The “fortunate” ones were sold into prostitution. Unwanted girls were left to die of exposure.

Into this world came Christianity, specifically the writings of St. Paul. As [author Sarah] Ruden tells her readers, to call him an “oppressor of women” could “hardly be more wrong.” “Paul’s teachings on sexual purity and marriage were adopted as liberating in the pornographic, sexually exploitive Greco-Roman culture of the time . . .”

The biblical teachings about human dignity, morality, ethics, and sin were counter-cultural at the time. Today they appear to be once more. John Stonestreet notes that “sexually-predatory males didn’t go extinct, but until just recently—and thanks largely to Christian influence—they couldn’t rationalize their predations, either.”

Click here to read Stonestreet’s entire commentary on this subject or listen to it below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BP2017-10-19.mp3|titles=#MeToo by John Stonestreet]

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