When the International Bible Society paid to insert a copy of the New Testament in last Sunday's issue of The Colorado Springs Gazette, it thought it had found an astute way to spread Scripture.
The volume went into the same pocket of the newspaper's plastic pouch where items like CD's from America Online or soap samples often go. The Bible group paid the standard advertising rate, and its spokeswoman, Judy Billings, said it considered the 91,000 copies of the New Testament a Christmas gift to the people of Colorado Springs.
The society was supported by more than 125 Colorado Springs churches, businesses, individuals and influential organizations like the evangelical group Focus on the Family. But it also set off a debate about free speech, the role of newspapers and religion in the public sphere.
Some Jews and Muslims said getting the New Testament with the Sunday paper felt like being proselytized in their homes. Journalism critics debated whether this was free speech or skating too close to an endorsement of a particular religion.
"I do think it's important that any newspaper that engages in new or different types of advertisement approaches think carefully about how they do that and how their independence from this particular product is achieved," said Aly Colón, who teaches ethics at the Poynter Institute, a journalism education organization in St. Petersburg, Fla. "And I think the Bible takes on some additional meanings at times like this, as people are trying to balance religious freedoms and concern about the separation of church and state."
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a Washington research organization affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, disagreed.
"I think there is a free speech issue here," Mr. Rosenstiel said. "I think this is one of the things about newspapers: they deliver you everything. If a newspaper is open to all, I don't understand the issue here. Are we frightened of having this in our house? Should people of one religion not read the scriptures of another? We can't neuter our society."
Bob Burdick, publisher of The Gazette, said that the paper regularly took advertising from religious and political groups, and that most readers understood that such advertisements did not amount to an endorsement of their ideas.
"We're not in the business of stifling ideas," Mr. Burdick said. "I don't think papers have to back away from ideas because they're religious ideas, just as they shouldn't back away from ideas because they're political ideas."
The paper received 195 positive messages about the insert and 69 negative ones and 5 people canceled subscriptions, a muted reaction compared with the response when a comic strip is pulled, Mr. Burdick noted.
The International Bible Society, founded in 1809 to spread Christian Scripture, began this year to disseminate the New Testament through newspapers, Ms. Billings said.
The society inserted the Gospel of Luke into editions of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., on Palm Sunday and sent more than 420,000 copies with The Houston Chronicle on Aug. 29. That distribution was meant to coincide with the release on DVD of the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ," which was inspired by the Gospel of Luke. Churches in the other cities helped finance those efforts.
When The Gazette arrived last Sunday, the New Testament came with a broadsheet explaining that it had been paid for by local groups.
Ms. Billings said the Bible society knew the insert might rankle some people. "There are always people who don't think that this kind of distribution is appropriate," Ms. Billings said. "But we're thankful for the chance to do outreach. If one person comes to Jesus Christ because of this, it's worth it all."
Mary Simon, the administrator of Temple Shalom, the city's largest Jewish congregation, saw it differently and said many worshipers were upset. "This is more than a business choice," Ms. Simon said. "This is precisely and actively trying to bring people to their position, which they have a right to do, but not in my house. That is my sacred space and they can't invade it, which they did."
She noted under Jewish law, the copies cannot be thrown away because that would amount to desecration. Temple Shalom is collecting the copies to give to a church or other institution that would make use of them.
For Muslims, the New Testament is considered God's word, so the Bible group's campaign is "not as big a deal for us as for Jews," said Arshad Yousufi, a member of the board of directors of the city's Islamic Society. But he said some Muslims wondered whether the placement of the copies was "part of the trend to push the fundamentalist agenda."
Church leaders who supported the Bible society's efforts said they were surprised by the reaction.
"I don't think getting the New Testament with your newspaper is forcing anything on anyone," said the Rev. Gaylord Hatler, pastor of First Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ church in Colorado Springs. "If we're going to celebrate diversity, then all of us should be able to celebrate everyone's position. But it seems that it's O.K. to be anything these days but Christian."