As for Joyce Meyers and the rest of the crew’s Word Faith/Prosperity Gospel movement… what can I say? Go ask your daughter to give you a makeover. I’m sure you can be just as impressive in a dress as your “General” can. ^_^

Okay, okay, I’m done.

Seriously, it was a good read, something I have also noticed in bookstores. Most of my books also come from either Amazon and B&N, with the exception of one. I always stared at her face while there and gave her a wink as I pulled a book next to her but not of her. I’m sure she frowned at me when I wasn’t looking at her booking.

Keep up the writing! A good overview indeed.

Wesley Owen is probably the biggest Christian chain here in the UK, and, while there is a fair amount of WWJD trinkets, and rank upon serried rank of Left Behind books and spin-offs, you can still pick up lots of good books – commentaries (from “Wright for Everyone” through “Bible Speaks Today”, right up to scholarly commentaries), doctrine (the likes of JI Packer and John Stott clearly still sell, plus systematic theologies like Wayne Grudem’s), and lots of Bibles (some of which, if you look *really* hard, actually come with just the biblical text, without any notes specially targeted at helping 30-something fathers of two live victorious lives of faith in the Spirit).

And my local Christian bookshop – called, originally, “The Christian Bookshop”, and which has two branches, one a mile from home, one 200 yards from my office; how cool is that? – is still basically a *bookshop*, even if a bit Reformed for my current tastes (though I did pick up one of the “Paul for Everyone” books there yesterday, and a copy of the Church of England’s new “breviary” last week).

But Amazon.co.uk still does it for me – especially with the weak dollar, which makes US-published Lutheran books (like there’s any *other* kind of Lutheran book, in English) ludicrously cheap.

Take out the confirmation gift-edition Bibles, and the Dalai Lama normally beats twenty centuries of Christian literature hands-down, in terms of shelf-space.

And if I see one more copy of “Conversations with God” by Neale Donald Walsch filed under “Christian”, I’ll scream.

I’d guess that the smaller Christian market in the UK is responsible both for the better quality of Christian bookshop (since they really do have to be run for love rather than just to rake in cash), and the poorer quality of Christian sections in mainstream bookshops (since there’s no money in it, and shop managers don’t have any feel for what Christians are really after).

I’ve never read Joel Osteen, but if that’s true then he must be truly awful.

Amen!

And, how can someone relatively new to reading, for lack of a better work, religious books tell the difference between solid history/theology/teaching and utter dreck? I’ve only been a Christian for a few years, and have already amassed a list a mile long of books well-meaning friends gave me that I thought were nonsense. My two concerns are: I work 60 hours a week; how can I tell quickly whether a book is worth my time reading it before I’ve invested several evenings and $20 into it? and how do I know that the things I thought were reasonably theologically sound actually were? (I’m not worried about literary style or general readability; I’m pretty confident in my ability to tell quality writing from bad, but both good and terrible ideas can be expressed eloquently)

First off, LifeWay is definitely the lesser of the two evils. Family Christian carries a much larger selection Meyers and Meyers-esque literature. Maybe it’s because Baptists are as into non-denom/charismatic/health-wealth stuff as non-denoms are. But, sure most of SB offerings are nothing to brag about.

I have noticed both a growth in the “Christian Living” section and the “Theology” section as well as their commentary offerings. I have watched as their Piper collection has grown from nothing to “Desiring God” to “Future Grace” to a regular release of his literature. They carry many of Lewis’ titles. Even the fictional ones. They carry Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, Thomas Kemper, and if I was there right now I could point you to many more quality offerings – things you might find on Discerning Reader (Brennan Manning also comes to mind).

They offer a full selection of Wright’s For Everyone series and Calvin’s commentaries.

They offer the ESV in its many forms.

I have picked up and/or seen Ian Murray’s “Redemption: Accomplished and Applied,” John Stott’s “The Cross of Christ,” Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology,” J. I. Packer’s “Knowing God”, and Francis Schaeffer’s “How Should We Then Live?”

My point is that while they still push the evangeli-crap, they have come a long way in my book and I imagine they’ll get consistently better. Maybe eventually you’ll see some of those titles on their best seller rack, and then things might really start to turn around.

I like most bookstores associated with Episcopal Churches I have been to–lots of L’Engle and not as new agey as one might think.

When I used to live further south and occassionally went to Christian bookstores, I had a really hard time finding anything worthwhile. I once bought a Colson book to take to China thinking I could share it with a Chinese seminary student I knew when I finished. The book was okay, I guess, but it was completely culture-bound and would have made no sense to my friend. I didn’t give him the book.

I was once asked to sign a petition at the register at a Christian bookstore (against the movie the Last Temptation of Christ). I hadn’t seen the movie, so I didn’t see how I could sign–maybe I should have gone out to see it and then come back and sign the petition?

I also note that I have never been asked to sign a petition in, say, a Discovery store. You know, Star Wars is not scientifically accurate, maybe it should be banned? Or Victoria’s Secret could have customers sign petitions against movies that don’t show enough skin? Maybe I’d sign that one…;)

Thank you for taking the time to share your opinions with us, maybe someday, somehow, Christian book stores will be full of Bibles, gospel centered books and Christ-exhaulting music-until then…