There has been heightened general-public attention on God's Word this year due to the King James Version's (KJV) 400th anniversary, according to the world's leading publisher of KJV Bibles.

"Interest in this landmark occasion is widespread and has been acknowledged in major national press," Gary Davidson, vice president and group publisher for Bibles at Thomas Nelson, notes in an Industry Forum guest column in the June issue of Christian Retailing. He referenced a recent New York Times editorial that observed, 'It's barely possible to overstate the significance of this Bible. Hundreds of millions have been sold. ... To Christians all around the world, it is still the ancestral language of faith.' "

Davidson also notes that The Wall Street Journal, in an essay on the KJV's influence on the English language, said: "The translators of the KJV understood the dignity and moving directness of the original Hebrew, which is why, after 400 years, the King James Bible remains a stylistic model that writers might well want to emulate."

Davidson encouraged Christian retailers to publicly look for ways in their stores to take advantage of the heightened profile of the Bible.

Read more in the June issue of Christian Retailing.

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