"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. This week in the Bible and Media: At a time when social media is attacking the Bible and Christian speech, politicians try to use the Bible to justify their political agendas and a famous composer's study Bible sheds light on his faith.

A couple large Christian organizations are complaining that Facebook's new "hate speech" policy is censoring their religious speech. The American Family Association reports having lost two-thirds of its Facebook audience, and general council Abraham Hamilton III doesn't doubt the reasons, "It's patently obvious that social media giants, in particular, have displayed a particularized animus toward Christian groups and those groups that are politically conservative," he told OneNewsNow.com.

Pastor Rich Penkoski who runs the Facebook group Warriors for Christ, claims that videos he posts often appear and work correctly under his login, but are not visible under others. His views have dropped from 13 million to one million since he informed Facebook that he did not want the rainbow flag displayed on his page as it "is a pride symbol for homosexuality and we are a Christian ministry," he told the Christian Post. His stance became public when an atheist organization reported it to their social media members, and since then he has received death threats reports BlackChristianNews.com, so at least some of his drop in audience may be a result of backlash rather than Facebook's policies. Even so, it does not excuse Facebook's deceptive practices in hiding his videos.

Think-Biblically.com has not witnessed any such problems with our Facebook group, but our reach is not as extreme and our posts are maintained on our own website rather than on social media accounts.

Attorney Jeff Sessions has fallen under fire recently for his use of the BIble to justify his political positions saying, "I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of government because God has ordained the government for his purposes." Critics argue that this specific chapter and verse have been used in the past to justify all kinds of dark practices committed by governments, including slavery. Most of the opposition to Sessions' remarks are from those who want to eliminate the Bible from all forms of public debate, but not always. Christianity Today, a longstanding Christian publication, takes a stand opposing the governments actions and they explain why from their understanding of Bible texts.

We believe that Christian's in government should follow their Biblical convictions when explaining their political positions for two reasons. First, it shows the Bible is relevant to modern life, and second, it is encouraging to learn how our leaders think about God's Word. In our opinion, the only mistake Jeff Sessions may have made is by not expanding on his convictions. In fact, Sessions hints that he has an understanding that the writers at Christianity Today have missed, that God has given different responsibilities to governments than he has to individuals. This can be a difficult differentiation for those in a representative republic like the United States.

Of course there are those who oppose the use of the Bible in public debate. In a New York Times opinion piece, reader Richard B. Patterson of El Paso, Texas states, "I would like to propose a Constitutional amendment that makes it illegal for politicians to quote from the Bible, the Torah, the Quran and all other sacred scriptures."

Regardless of where one may stand politically, Christians should support the use of religious speech in the public square. There will be times when Scripture is twisted to fit an agenda, and Christians can and should point this out in a collective voice while explaining the true meaning. There will also be times when Scripture is used correctly, and Christians should take such opportunities to expand on the passage and its teachings. Either way, we get the teachings of God's word into the public debate, and that is never a bad thing.

In other news, recently researchers have started looking at Johann Sebastian Bach's personal study Bible. Discovered in the 1930's, it is currently housed at the Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis. The BIble is a three volume work extensively notated by the composer himself and with commentary from Martin Luther's sermons and Lutheran theologian Abraham Calovius. His personal notes, authenticated by handwriting experts, reveal that he was anything like the progressive secularist modern biographers paint him to be.

The truth of these notes indicates that Bach considered himself to be more of preacher than an artist. In one side note Bach wrote, "Where there is devotional music, God with his grace is always present." For more on this unique look at Bach's life, consult the full article about this discovery at the New York Times, or for the true admirer of Bach you can get a reproduction of his Bible here.