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Last week in Atlanta, the Christian (read "evangelical") publishing industry held its annual convention—"CBA," as it's known. Publishers, booksellers, and others connected to the trade came in droves to see the books and Bibles and music videos and knick-knacks that will be turning up in your local Christian bookstore in the coming months. And as usual, there was plenty of evidence at hand for your favorite generalization about evangelicalism.

Do you despair at evangelicals' embrace of the shallow, the trendy, the theologically dubious? Bingo! This was the year of Jabez. Bruce Wilkinson's bestseller, The Prayer of Jabez, was named the Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and everywhere you turned at the convention there were signs of Jabez mania. Shameless knockoffs, designed to resemble the Wilkinson original, could be seen on almost every aisle. And of course there were Jabez mugs, Jabez neckties, Jabez pens—you name it. There was even the Jabez fish: the familiar Christian symbol that has adorned so many evangelical bumpers, with the name "Jabez" spelled out in big letters inside the fish.

Do you brood over evangelical anti-intellectualism? If so, you could take grim satisfaction in the winner of the theology category in the ECPA awards. Yes, the Gold Medallion went to Hank Hanegraaf for his book, Resurrection.

But wait a minute. Are you encouraged by evangelicals' devotion to Scripture? You would have found much to gladden your heart in the aisles of CBA—not least the announcement of the English Standard Bible, based on the RSV but with significant revisions, forthcoming from Crossway. The sample translation of the Book of Psalms bodes well for this enterprise.

Do you see signs of an intellectual renaissance among evangelicals? There was plenty of evidence at hand. Didn't IVP's Dictionary of New Testament Background, Walt Wangerin's wonderfully revisionist novelistic portrait, Paul (Zondervan), and Phillip Johnson's The Wedge of Truth (IVP) all take home Gold Medallions? And when have there been so many challenging books as those on display at this year's convention from Baker, Eerdmans, IVP, and other publishers committed to enlarging the territory—so to speak—of the evangelical mind?

Even Jabez mania was deftly countered by Douglas Jones's dead-on parody, The Mantra of Jabez (Canon Press), which gets my vote for Book of the Convention. A mixture of delightful mimicry, Swiftian-strength theological satire, and inspired silliness in the great Monty Python tradition, The Mantra of Jabez (subtitled "Break on Through to the Other Side") is a bracing tonic.

So where is the soul of the CBA? Pick your evidence (and this report only scratches the surface). As for me, I'll be back for next year's convention, Lord willing. I wouldn't miss it.

John Wilson is editor of Books & Culture and editor-at-large for Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Other media reports from CBA include:

Christian books selling hot — Associated Press (July 12, 2001)

Throbbing hearts and thumping Bibles - Salon (July 12, 2001)

When Jesus saves, his followers like to spend — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 10, 2001)

Religious books: Divine popularity, heavenly sales - CNN (July 10, 2001)

God, Mammon, and 'Bibleman' — Newsweek

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July (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45