How do I correctly dispose of a Bible?

I wouldn’t. I… just… wouldn’t. I don’t know why… I just wouldn’t throw it out, burn a book or even recycle anything written and bound. Esp. not a bible.

Just me.

Recycle it.

to be honest i don’t think there is. what i would do is give it to a local church, or find someone on the streets. they need motivation to keep them going. most people will be more than happy to have a Bible, even if it is damaged. as for me, i still have all of my old ones because of all of my notes i have in it

@Zen_Again ; I’m leaning towards that option more, actually. And it has notes in it.

@rasshoal…also give the homeless a sandwich…they need energy to read

only way

I’m going to concur with Zen_Again

@tyrantxseries Not cool, dude. You’re allowed to have different beliefs, but that was just completely disrespectful.

@tyrantxseries ; gee, thanks. that was mature.

Open trash can, insert book.

To answer the question, I would just recycle it. If it’s pretty torn and messed up, I wouldn’t give it to another person.

@Sarcasm ; ehh. not exactly what I was looking for, but thanks. xD

but lots of people would love to get a bible, even if it is torn and messed up. heck i’d gladly accept one if i needed one

“The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.” U.S. Flag code.

Burn it?

It contains paper and is bound by something of a harder material correct right? Well then, if you answered yes, then it sounds like you’ve got a classic case of having a regular book. Open the trash can and toss it out. Or better yet, throw it in a dumpster so it doesn’t haunt your life anymore.

Maybe just leave it on the steps of your house…a lot of people here in my neighborhood do this with books…and then people take them

@DrasticDreamer how is that disrespectful?

@tyrantxseries i think it was just the way you put it

@tyrantxseries If you didn’t mean it in a disrespectful way, then I apologize. Something about how you answered made it seem that way to me. But, if I’m wrong, then I’m sorry.

Anyway, I don’t think there’s any wrong way to throw out an old Bible. That said, if you don’t give it to someone, at least recycle it. Don’t just throw it in the trash, that’d be a major waste of tree. Why do so many people have an aversion to recycling? :P

@DrasticDreamer I think it wasn’t disrespectful to anyone in particular – just a way of showing one doesn’t mind burning books. I take issue with it, as I mentioned above – didn’t need a visual of a furnace (i don’t need a visual anyway – kinda reminded me of the concentrations camps and burning of old and new testaments by the nazis – but it wasn’t being disrespectful, per se.

Roll the pages and smoke ‘em.

Just FYI, in Judaism, old Torah scrolls are ceremoniously buried because it’s forbidden to destroy anything containing God’s name.

@Harp Yep.

I third @Harp. My Grandmother was cremated along with her bible. She was a God-fearing woman and would never have agreed to disrespect the “good book.”

Bury it, then plant a rosebush on top of it.

It’s respectful to burn a human body and the American flag, but not the bible, cause it’s a Jewish custom?

@AstroChuck ; smoke what? D:

@oratio ; well, the body was unclean, and they didn’t really have flags… but I see your point.

Christianity has a lot of prohibitions against idols and icons and whatnot right? So why is a book so venerated? It doesn’t physically embody your spirituality or beliefs. Would throwing away a cross be bad? I’m just curious.

@nzigler ; I know that people bury the cross, not throw it away, but good question/point/thing.

Don’t get rid of it. Keep it.

If you don’t want to keep it, give to the Church, maybe.

Don’t burn it.

I put it that way because that is the only way I would dispose of a bible any religion (and only a bible),
I would do this for 3 reasons:
1— you might not like is to stop it’s Propaganda from spreading. I would never give it to someone
2— is to use it in a useful way to help heat your house “a fireplace” instead of just burning it outside somewhere
3— the bibles are just paper and mean nothing, it’s the religion it’s self that means something if you believe in that

Leave it somewhere for someone else to find.

It would seem to me that a Bible that’s been written in, waterlogged, and torn hasn’t exactly been treated in a venerated manner to begin with.

I made the bury the bible and rose bush thing up, because one superstition is as good as another… You will not get seven years’ bad luck from recycling the book, or even throwing it out.

@PandoraBoxx ; D: but… it has. it’s old, that’s all.

It’s just a book. You get rid of it the way you get rid of any book. God’s not going to be mad at you if you throw away a used Bible.

I am not saying respecting the bible or burying the bible is wrong. I just kind of feel that the respect and honor you show the body of the woman who gave birth to you, should be good enough for a mass produced printed bible.

Burying it seems like a good solution though.

@troubleinharlem ; if it has notes in it, wrap it up and put it in an attic. It will be a way for your grandchildren to get to know you.

I lurve @tinyfaery ‘s idea.

In defense of @tyrantxseries, I was always taught to burn old religious artifacts. As a matter of fact I clicked on this question with intention of writing just that. Here is a link to a Catholic site that says it is perfectly fine to burn an old, worn out Bible.

@Zen_Again I agree. I also lurve @Judi and @Simone_De_Beauvoir‘s ideas.

Burning is the correct way to dispose of a worn-out U.S. flag. I don’t see anything disrespectful in @tyrantxseries‘s suggestion. Why so quick to react with condemnation?

If I had a Bible to dispose of and had no other way, I would consider burning it to be a holy act like burning incense on an altar: commending it to the elements.

@Jeruba do you really not know? it’s the knee jerk reaction that obviously when someone mentions something religious or Christian, then they will be made fun of or condemned

Compost It…it will feed god’s worms…and become part of god’s earth…

@Jeruba If I could give you a thousand GA’s, I would. People seem to have their “flame on” a lot with this site.

burn it.

Isn’t attaching so much significance to inanimate objects kind of like idolatry? Just a thought…

I think you’re putting too much thought into this. I don’t think God will be upset whether you throw it out, burn it, recylcle it, or give it away as long as you have no ill intentions when doing so. As long as you do it respectfully, who cares?

Sneak it back into the fiction section.

@DefiantMM – good idea to put it in the fiction section. Someone looking for fiction might find it and discover truth…..............................

Yes, recycle it without making a fuzz about it. The content still exists. Bibles can be reprinted. God won’t be upset. Some very conservative believers might. They don’t have to know.

Psst, @mattbrowne, “fuss.”

Thanks @Jeruba. It’s never a good idea to write hasty comments. Spelling really matters a lot to me. It’s funny how the brain plays tricks on us sometimes. Was I thinking fuzzy thoughts? Well, let’s recycle the bible without making a fuss about it. Amen.

@mattbrowne, I figured you wrote “fuzz” on purpose! Let’s just go with that!

@SuperMouse – In fact, sometimes I enjoy doing things like that on purpose. Not this time, at least not in a conscious way. Was it a Freudian slip?

Synagogues often have a place called a “geniza” where people bring holy old, unwanted, or damaged ritual objects and religious texts that have G-d’s name in them. When the geniza gets full—or it is otherwise convenient—they bury the stuff somewhere. Maybe some churches do something like that, too?

A Bible is a physical book which contains the Word of God which makes it a Holy book, yet like any physical object that is used there will come a time when it has been worn out or damaged to the point that it can no longer be used. So to replace a Bible is not throwing out the Word of God but a copy of the Word of God which I am assuming more likely than not has already been replaced with an alternative Bible. As to the actual disposal that varies depending upon if one is a “High Church Christian” or a “Low Church Christian”. The high church group will say that the flag principle apples to Bibles and at times will actually have Bible burning services were worn out Bibles and often prayer books and hymnals are respectfully burned within the context of thanking God for the blessing that the use of the physical books have been to the faithful in the life of the church. Lower church Christians will say the opposite and insist that it is degrading and improper for Christians let alone Christian ministers to be burning Bibles under any circumstance and will often just throw them out, bury them or just let them sit around in a corner of the basement or attic where they are out of the way.