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Zondervan and HarperCollins will not publish or manufacture a version of the Bible that would feature various patriotic American documents for the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, contrary to concerns expressed online. Earlier this month, Meagan Clark of Religion Unplugged wrote an article reporting that the Michigan-based international Christian media and publishing company was “in talks” to release the God Bless the USA Bible on the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans in 2001. This Bible version will reportedly include the lyrics to the 1984 song “God Bless the USA,” the U.S. States Constitution,...

In his 1999 book, Dr. Ben Carson wrote that our nation’s history on racial injustices made it impossible for the black community to think of the judicial system in anything but racial terms and that white Americans were only able to view racial violence in a modern context. In his book, The Big Picture, released by Zondervan, Carson argued white Americans had “no grasp on the history of racial violence in this country.” Carson wrote of a time his mother was thrown in jail for a minor traffic violation as an example of personal history of the racial injustice in...

Publishing giant HarperCollins, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., has signed a deal to buy Thomas Nelson from private-equity firm Kohlberg & Co. for an undisclosed sum. The purchase, which is expected to close later this year, will bring 213-year-old Thomas Nelson under the umbrella of one of the world's media groups and the owner of fellow Christian-oriented publisher Zondervan. Company officials on Monday said both companies will maintain separate operations, but did not comment on possible layoffs at Thomas Nelson, which employs about 600 people.

The scandal involving NewsCorp head Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid empire continues to widen, bringing scrutiny to, of all places, Grand Rapids and the Zondervan publishing company.

The Christian book publisher Zondervan is coming out with a biography of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The Grand Rapids-area company says the book about Alaska's 44-year-old governor goes on sale Oct. 10 and is called "Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader." Zondervan chief executive Moe Girkins says in a news release that "regardless of your political persuasion, it is clear that Sarah Palin has quickly electrified the 2008 election." The Grand Rapids Press says author Joe Hilley is a lawyer and writer of Christian novels. Zondervan is based in Kent County's Cascade Township.

In Michigan, a homosexual man is suing two Christian publishers—Zondervan and Tyndale House—for $70 million dollars. Bradley Fowler claims they violated his constitutional rights and caused him "emotional distress" by publishing versions of the Bible that call homosexuality a sin. In my view, Fowler is suing the wrong party, but perhaps he realizes he is likely to have difficulty hauling the real author into court. While the lawsuit may strike us as funny, we ought to take such attacks on Christian teaching seriously: We are going to see many more of them if same-sex "marriage" is foisted upon us by...

A Michigan man is suing Zondervan Publishing and Thomas Nelson Publishing, claiming biblical references to homosexuality as a sin violate his constitutional rights and have caused him emotional pain and mental instability. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and $10 million from Thomas Nelson, The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press reported. He is representing himself in both claims. Fowler claims the Bible has made him an outcast and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of "demoralization, chaos and bewilderment." "As frivolous as this case may sound, it's an indicator of where the homosexual agenda is headed," said...

A Michigan man is seeking $70 million from two Christian publishers for emotional distress and mental instability he received during the past 20 years from versions of the Bible that refer to homosexuality as a sin. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, a gay man, claims his constitutional rights were infringed upon by Zondervan Publishing Co. and Thomas Nelson Publishing, both of which, he claims, deliberately caused homosexuals to suffer by misinterpretation of the Bible. Fowler, 39, is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson. According to a USA Today report, Fowler’s two separate suits against the publishers...

A homosexual man is suing two major Christian publishers for violating his constitutional rights and causing emotional pain, because the Bible they publish refers to homosexuality as a sin. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Grand Rapids Press reported. Fowler filed his claim against Grand Rapids-based Zondervan Monday, alleging its Bibles' references to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and...

A homosexual man is suing a major Christian publisher for violating his constitutional rights and causing emotional pain, because its Bible versions refer to homosexuality as a sin. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Grand Rapids Press reported. Fowler filed his claim against Grand Rapids-based Zondervan yesterday, alleging its Bibles' references to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods...

Christian publisher Zondervan is facing a $60 million federal lawsuit filed by a man who claims he and other homosexuals have suffered based on what the suit claims is a misinterpretation of the Bible.

Operation Worship is a new promotion just getting started at Family Christian Bookstores across our country. The program which is a joint effort with Zondervan Publishers allows patriotic customers to purchase small camouflage covered Bibles to send to our troops overseas. The Bibles are low cost ($4.99) and you are asked to write a personal message to a member of our armed forces. This personal message will be bound in the Bible by Zondervan and sent to a soldier. The promotion is starting this week and continuing for several months. Family Christian Bookstores hopes to send 200,000 Bibles to our...

Operation Worship is a new promotion just getting started at Family Christian Bookstores across our country. The program which is a joint effort with Zondervan Publishers allows patriotic customers to purchase small camouflage covered Bibles to send to our troops overseas. The Bibles are low cost ($4.99) and you are asked to write a personal message to a member of our armed forces. This personal message will be bound in the Bible by Zondervan and sent to a soldier. The promotion is starting this week and continuing for several months. Family Christian Bookstores hopes to send 200,000 Bibles to our...

I may have mentioned this resource a few weeks ago, but I finally have a copy. I highly recommend this resource. It was a collaboration between Zondervan and Gordon Conwell Seminary, edited by Walter Kaiser. It's full of historical, archaeological and cultural data. Excellent apologetics resource. Archaeological Study Bible : An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture (Amazon) or Archaeological Study Bible (Zondervan Site)

Crawford, the home of President George W. Bush, is a sun-scorched hole of a backwater Texas town -- a single dreary railroad crossing surrounded on all sides by roasted earth the color of dried dog s---. There are scattered clumps of trees and brush, but all the foliage seems bent from the sun's rays and ready at any moment to burst into flames. The moaning cattle along the lonely roads sound like they're begging for their lives. The downtown streets are empty. Just as the earth is home to natural bridges, this place is a natural dead end -- the...

Bible created especially for girls age 13-16 that includes profiles of fictional teenagers discussing oral sex, lesbianism and "dream" guys is drawing sharp criticism from some Christian parents who say such material should not appear alongside Scripture. The "True Images" Bible, published by Zondervan, promises on its dustcover to "strengthen your relationship with God, family, friends and guys." While the book includes the entire text of the New International Version of the Bible, it's the "over 1,000 relevant and compelling notes and articles" that have critics upset. The "In Focus" profiles are peppered throughout the text of the Bible and...

The Rolling Stone Magazine reversed its decision not to air an advertisement for the Today’s New International Version (TNIV) of the Bible earlier this week, but the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)-affiliated Lifeway Christian Resources has not yet changed its decision to keep the edition out of its 122 bookstores because of the version’s gender-neutral translations. The controversy over the International Bible Society (IBS) and Zondervan Publishing House’s TNIV began in 2002 when initial publishing began. Fundamentals and evangelicals rejected the version’s rendering of male terms like “son” and “father” into the gender neutral “child” and “parent”, respectively. By the year’s...

Rolling Stone agrees to Bible ad Rolling Stone reverses itself, says religious content isn't banned 08:29 PM CST on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 Associated Press GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Rolling Stone magazine has reversed itself and agreed to accept an advertisement for a new translation of the Bible. After first rejecting the advertisement, Rolling Stone sent the publisher, Zondervan, a contract for a half-page ad in the music magazine's Feb. 24 issue, said Doug Lockhart, executive vice president of marketing at the nation's largest Bible publisher. Lisa Dallos, a spokeswoman for Rolling Stone publisher Wenner Media LLC, said Tuesday that...

Rolling Stone magazine has decided to run an ad for a new Bible in its magazine. The ad is to run next month and will be the same one the magazine rejected as too controversial. "We have addressed the internal miscommunications that led to the previous misstatement of company policy and apologize for any confusion it may have caused," Lisa Dallos, spokeswoman for Wenner Media, Rolling Stone's parent company, told USA Today. The magazine first claimed the ad's "spiritual message" might turn off its pot-smoking audience. The ad never mentions God, but does refer to the Bible as "real truth."...

NEW YORK (Talon News) -- Rock music magazine Rolling Stone rejected an ad on Wednesday for a new Bible translation designed to reach "spiritually intrigued 18- to 34-year-olds" because it was deemed too religious. Zondervan, the largest Bible publisher in the United States, was hoping to purchase space in the popular secular magazine to attract their target consumers for the new "Today's New International Version of the Bible," which is due to hit bookstores in February. Doug Lockhart, who serves as the executive vice president of marketing for Zondervan, said he purchased the ad in Rolling Stone last July in...