Zondervan is an international

Christian media Christian media, sometimes referred to as inspirational, faith and family, or simply Christian, is a cross-media genre that features a Christian message or moral. Several creative studios and mass media formats are considered to be aspects of ...

and publishing company located in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. and has multiple imprints including Zondervan Academic, Zonderkidz, Blink, and Editorial Vida. Zondervan is the commercial rights holder for the New International Version (NIV) Bible in North America. Their theology is generally dispensational as opposed to covenant theology. Their logo is often the three-fold flame instead of the classic 'Z'. They are owned by one of the largest conglomerates in the mainstream media, and according to the Zondervan website, they are the largest Christian publisher.

History

Zondervan was founded in 1931 in Grandville, MI, a suburb of Grand Rapids, by brothers Peter ("P.J.", "Pat") and Bernard (Bernie) Zondervan, who were the nephews of publisher William B. Eerdmans. The company began in the Zondervans' farmhouse and originally dealt with selling remainders and publishing

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

works. The first book it published was ''Women of the Old Testament'' by Abraham Kuyper, in 1933. Within a few years it developed a list of its own, and began publishing

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

editions. The Berkeley Version appeared in 1959, and the

Amplified Bible ''The Amplified Bible'' (AMP) is an English language translation of the Bible produced jointly by Zondervan and The Lockman Foundation. The first edition as a complete volume was published in 1965. “Amplifications” are words or phrases int ...

in 1965. The New International Version New Testament was published in partnership with the

International Bible Society International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in 1973, and the complete NIV Bible appeared in 1978. The company was bought by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, a division of News Corp, in 1988, and is the company's principal Christian book publishing division. Scott Macdonald was appointed President and CEO in May 2011. Zondervan also publishes many other books by Christian authors focusing on topics of interest to Christians. In the 1970s it published '' The Late, Great Planet Earth'' by

Hal Lindsey Harold Lee Lindsey (born November 23, 1929) – known as Hal Lindsey – is a best-selling American evangelical writer. He is a Christian Zionist, a dispensationalist and a television host. He wrote a series of popular apocalyptic books – beg ...

, which has sold more than 30 million copies. They are also known for the Bible storytelling books of Ethel Barrett, ''Joni'' by

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or ...

Joni Eareckson Tada Joni Eareckson Tada (born October 15, 1949) is an evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community". Early life Joni Eareckson was b ...

, Baptist minister and author

Rick Warren Richard Duane Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American Southern Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in Lake Fo ...

's ''

The Purpose Driven Life ''The Purpose Driven Life'' is a bible study book written by Christian pastor Rick Warren and published by Zondervan in 2002. The book offers readers a 40-day personal spiritual journey and presents what Warren says are God's five purposes for h ...

'', which has sold more than 35 million copies, and ''Sacred Marriage, ''by Gary Thomas. In 2004, Zondervan expanded to include Renee Altson,

Shane Claiborne Shane Claiborne (born July 11, 1975) is a Christian activist and author who is a leading figure in the New Monasticism movement and one of the founding members of the non-profit organization, The Simple Way, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Claib ...

, Sarah Raymond Cunningham and Margaret Feinberg, authors writing for young readers. The children's arm of the company Zonderkidz published '' The Jesus Storybook Bible'' in 2007, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago it has sold in excess of 2 million copies in 19 languages. The NIV Zondervan Study Bible was released in 2015 during the 50th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) translation. The study Bible, edited by Dr. D. A. Carson, features over 60 evangelical contributors from multiple denominations.

Recording business

Zondervan was in the Christian record business for many years with the Singspiration and Zondervan Victory labels in the 1960s, Singcord in the 1970s, and the Milk & Honey Records label, starting in the late 1970s. In 1980, Zondervan and Paragon Associates bought Christian record label

Benson Records Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson and John T. Benson, who formed the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records, creating house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, R ...

in a partnership to own and operate for $3 million. The resulting company was (measured by sales) one and a half times the size of its closest competitor,

Word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

. Zondervan bought out Paragon in 1983, and eventually sold Benson to

Zomba Label Group RCA/Jive Label Group was a short-lived American record label group, owned by Sony Music Entertainment and representing the merger of the RCA Music Group and Jive Label Group. The umbrella group was formed in 2007 under the name BMG Label Group, ...

in 1993, now a part of

Sony BMG Music Entertainment Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...

Pradis

Pradis was the trademarked name for Zondervan's native format for biblical software. On September 22, 2009, Logos Research Systems, Inc, and Zondervan announced a new partnership, and the retirement of Pradis. Thirty-one titles were slated for availability in "early 2010" in the

LOGOS Bible Software Logos Bible Software is a digital library application developed by Faithlife Corporation.It is designed for electronic Bible study. In addition to basic eBook functionality, it includes extensive resource linking, note-taking functionality, and ...

format.

References

External links

Zondervan
{{Authority control Book publishing companies based in Michigan Christian mass media companies Evangelical Christian publishing companies Companies based in Grand Rapids, Michigan Publishing companies established in 1931 1931 establishments in Michigan HarperCollins books Protestantism in Michigan News Corporation subsidiaries Religion in Grand Rapids, Michigan