Do Worn Scriptures Require Specialized Disposal?

[rpn]

 

Dear Annie: Can you tell me how to dispose of an old Bible? I have asked three ministers and they all said they did not know. I haven’t heard back. The Bible is not valuable. It doesn’t include a family history or anything like that. It is simply worn out, the cover is missing and some of the pages are torn. It is read to pieces. I have three other Bibles and don’t need more.

One friend told me to just put it in the garbage, another said to wrap it in newspaper and tie it up before putting it in the garbage. I don’t think putting it in the garbage is right. After all, if we aren’t supposed to put our country’s flag in the garbage, then why would we do that to a Bible? It’s no less important.

— O.

Dear O.: You’ve posed an interesting question. There is no single answer for the proper disposal of a Christian Bible that is too worn to be donated. However, the general consensus is to wrap it and then bury it. While the Bible itself is not an object of worship, it should still be treated in a respectful manner. You also can ask your minister if you can bring the Bible to your church for appropriate disposal.

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailbox@creators. com, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 Third St., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

 

This question prompted me to wonder what Mormons think about this.  And non-LDS practicing Christians?   And Jews?  And Muslims?  What say you?  

 

(Note:  I once taught a SS teen class that included 3 teen exchange students who were also Muslim.   They were astonished that Mormons prayed as often as they did (though mostly less formally and less ritually).   But they were most astonished to  see the Mormon class members bring their scriptures and set them on the floor by their chairs, which would have resulted in consequences for them.)

Edited August 9, 2015 by rpn

[Hillel2]

Hi. Any document... even a scrap of paper...on which the G-d's name (or its synonyms) has been written requires special disposal in the rabbinical Jewish tradition We have special storehouses called a geniza where the documents are allowed to turn to dust, essentially.

[Guest]

This question prompted me to wonder what Mormons think about this.  And practicing Christians?   And Jews?  And Muslims?  What say you?  

 

(Note:  I once taught a SS teen class that included 3 teen exchanged students who were also Muslim.   They were astonished that Mormons prayed as often as they did (though mostly less formally and less ritually).   But they were most astonished to  see the Mormon class members bring their scriptures and set them on the floor by their chairs, which would have resulted in consequences for them.)

I can never bring myself to do away with them...when the Church library used to put them out for disposal, I would rescue them. I have boxes of old scriptures; everywhere!

[CV75]

Other: they must be replaced, ultimately with the "fleshy tables of the heart," which are resurrected with us.

[rpn]

Wow,CV75!  

[janderich]

Seriously? Write them in your heart as CV75 suggests. Aside from that, scriptures are just words on paper so throw it away and don't make this into yet another false ritual.

Edited August 9, 2015 by janderich

[sheilauk]

in the end, its just a book.  Put it in recycling.

[The Nehor]

Sacrificial burning to Cthulhu to win favor. Otherwise you are just wasting them.

[Traela]

I have saved mine. They have the old set of Seminary scriptures marked, instead of the dumbed-down list they use now.

[Blah]

At the temple, when a Bible or triple is worn out, it is simply torn up and recycled. No fuss, no muss.

[Kenngo1969]

Hi. Any document... even a scrap of paper...on which the G-d's name (or its synonyms) has been written requires special disposal in the rabbinical Jewish tradition We have special storehouses called a geniza where the documents are allowed to turn to dust, essentially.

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.

 

I have saved mine. They have the old set of Seminary scriptures marked, instead of the dumbed-down list they use now.

You must've come of age back when they thought we should memorize 40 ... count 'em, forty ... scripture mastery scriptures per standard work! Good for you!  

[Duncan]

At the temple, when a Bible or triple is worn out, it is simply torn up and recycled. No fuss, no muss.

 

 

give them to me!!!!!!! I have always wanted white scriptures! I'd feel all holy and stuff

[Calm]

I have white scriptures, they are a compact set with my eight year old nickname on them, white hymnal too but that is out of date. I need to polish and soften them up in some way now.

[Damien the Leper]

I'm still waiting for Maklelan to get me copies of the BoM in Sanskrit, Teutonic and Coptic.

[Robert F. Smith]

At the temple, when a Bible or triple is worn out, it is simply torn up and recycled. No fuss, no muss.

Yeh, but what about those other items on the temple veil and on our garments?  Don't they require special conventions of disposal?  Would a geniza suiffice?

[maklelan]

Yeh, but what about those other items on the temple veil and on our garments?  Don't they require special conventions of disposal?  Would a geniza suiffice?

 

Those other things are fundamentally symbols, as is the American flag. A set of scriptures is not formally a symbol. I would not agree with any efforts to turn their physical form into any kind of symbol require special attention or care. 

[maklelan]

I'm still waiting for Maklelan to get me copies of the BoM in Sanskrit, Teutonic and Coptic.

 

Just get me fifty active members in any of those languages and I can help.

[longview]

At the temple, when a Bible or triple is worn out, it is simply torn up and recycled. No fuss, no muss.

When I saw the post, it reminded me of the story of someone having placed a worn out copy of the Book of Mormon on top of a trash can with its cover missing.  An old Italian man saw it, took it home, and read the whole thing.  He was converted by the Spirit but did not know the name of the church.  It was years before he met the missionaries.

[The Nehor]

When I saw the post, it reminded me of the story of someone having placed a worn out copy of the Book of Mormon on top of a trash can with its cover missing.  An old Italian man saw it, took it home, and read the whole thing.  He was converted by the Spirit but did not know the name of the church.  It was years before he met the missionaries.

Vincenzo de Francesca.

[Hillel2]

Just get me fifty active members in any of those languages and I can help.

[Hillel2]

I have a copy in Yiddish. :-)

[St. Bookmark]

Just put it in to the recycle Bin

[Raingirl]

I have a copy in Yiddish. :-)

Of the Book of Mormon? That's awesome!

I was an Orthodox Jew before joining the church.

[Gray]

I always dispose of old scriptures in one of these:

 

[KevinG]

I suspect a well worn and used set of scriptures being thrown away and replaced by new ones, is much less troublesome to God than a perfectly preserved and never read set of scriptures.