US Bible Sales Surge After Charlie Kirk Assassination
Bible sales have surged in the United States since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association reports.
September saw a 36 percent increase in Bible copy sales compared to September 2024. Some 2.4 million Bibles were sold in September 2025, up from 1.5 million in August. Through August, each month in 2025 had ranged between 1.2 million to 1.6 million sold, book tracker Circana BookScan found.
It marked the biggest month of Bible sales so far this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, attributes the sales to Kirk’s death. His shooting “awakened a lot of people,” he said. “They started to think about what they believe and why,” he told “The Wall Street Journal.”
HarperCollins Christian Publishing, which calls itself the nation’s largest commercial Bible and Christian book publisher, reported that people aged 18 to 34 comprised a large portion of the purchasers.
“September brought a wave of troubling events — violence, geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty — underscoring a pattern: In times of crisis, more people turn to faith for comfort and support,” said Brenna Connor, an analyst for Circana BookScan.
A Christian bookstore in Vineland, N.J., saw an increase of not only Bible sales but other biblical resources.
“Ever since the Charlie Kirk shooting, there has been an awakening, not only with Bibles but with all Christian-related items,” said James Borrero, owner of Cornerstone Christian Bookstore. “Even people like my father who never knew about him were affected by his death.”
He attributes Erika Kirk’s comments at the memorial service forgiving her husband’s killer as what “really sparked something” in the U.S. population. The increase reflects what she said at the memorial service.
“This past week, we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade,” she said. “We saw people pray for the first time since they were children. We saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives.”
In recent years, U.S. publishing companies have seen Bible sales increase year over year. From January to September, Bible sales increased by 11 percent in comparison to the same period in 2024. And in 2024, the January through October period saw a 22 percent increase in Bible sales compared to 2023.
It’s not just Amazon sales. Online retailers like Lifeway and faithgateway.com say their sales are the highest they’ve been in a decade.
–Alan Goforth
