Why Free?

We agree with the Copenhagen Alliance that the global Church needs free biblical resources unencumbered by “all rights reserved” copyright. The Word of God and the languages it was written in were given to us, so let us in turn give them away to others! We believe that just as someone should not have to pay to hear or read the gospel in their own language, they should not have to pay to read the gospel in the original language. Jesus said, “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matt 10:8). Paul did not charge money for people to have access to or copy his letters, nor did he feel comfortable making a living as a “peddler of God’s word” (2 Corinthians 2:17) or even being perceived as someone who thought “that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Tim 6:5).

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:7, “Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?” He went on to write: “I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.” 

While Paul recognized the freedom in Christ to make a living wage as a laborer for the gospel, he personally renounced that right: “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ” (1 Cor 9:11-12).