Bible: Best seller book in the history

DOnt you think that the person who wrote the bible was the smartest person, look how much money he made telling the first stories that came to his head, but we have to say they are good.

hey, 110%I agree. I'd love to see a frequency histogram of number of printings of all books throughout history, to see exactly how far off the charts the Bible actually is. Then, we could get see whether we have something that needs explaining.I vaguely recall one author who said that the best way to be a best-selling writer was to tell bible stories over again.So, how did they get so good? Where has all the genius gone?Stephen

Are you guys kidding? Did you even read Song of Soloman?Worst poetry ever.Like most ecclesiastical texts the Bible is only so-so as literature. I'd put Beowulf ahead of the Bible. (Have you guys read Seamus Heaney's translation? It's hot!)

And who could forget the Epic of Gilgamesh. Real action & drama!

quote:

---

I vaguely recall one author who said that the best way to be a best-selling writer was to tell bible stories over again.

---

Lately, it seems that rewritings of Shakespeare's works have been making the rounds as well, as well as The Odyssey (O' Brother Where Art Thou?). Stories in Classical Lit are great windows into humanities long wanderings and the commonality of adventure through history. We can't get enough of it I guess.

Stephen,Of course, I'm sure you realize that large numbers of sales is no guarantee of readership. Even amongst hardcore Christians, the percentage of them who have ever read it cover-to-cover is quite low.In my work, I visit lots of homes every week. I have seen many Bibles in these homes. Some have so much dust on them that it is quite obvious that they haven't been used in years. I've seen them used as coasters for beverages, as spacers for broken stereo stands, and once, as a fly-swatter. Why, I heard that Marilyn Manson even bought one!I'd wager to say that for the number of them sold, the Bible is probably the least read book in existence.Then, there's the fact that I have two Bibles. I and lots of the posters here read them for entirely different reasons than you read yours. Probably.Ultimately, I don't think you should draw any conclusions from large sales numbers.Verzem

It's supposed to be bad poetry. It's pornography.

---

Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

That is a remarkably childish, ignorant, and worthless statement.

Verzem,I was looking for a good question, not a conclusion. And, your observations only deepen the mystery.Stephen

Loudmouth,Be interesting to count quotes in Bartlett's.Stephen

Not interesting. Quotes only make it into Bartlett's because they're well-known, not because they're good.

Well, more than one person 'wrote the bible', and none of them (tbomn) ever got royalities for their work.

Crash, So, I guess somebody has been reading the bible.Stephen

Well, somebody's reading those Clive Cussler novels, too - they keep making more of them - but that doesn't make them great literature, either.

Crash,Regarding the Bible as literature,I agree that it is not very good literature. It says of itself that it is more of a textbook or guidebook. Remarkable because of it's amazing popularity, wisdom content, quotable proverbs etc, and as begun in this thread, wonderful stories. Stories, however, not told all that well. Hence, the great industry of others telling the stories over, in better literary form.Reading the bible leaves me with the impression that the book is trying to self-destruct. Everything about it appears to point to persons sitting around talking and telling stories and counseling one another. They retell the stories of the bible, bring up proverbs, quote wisdom or some sort of convicting truth. If Yeshua came today and walked about as He did 2000 years ago, I doubt that He would carry a Bible with Him. Why say anything in the bible that you don't know by heart? What could be more boring than the idea of a Bible study? Even the Bible doesn't recommend that practise. It's all about people loving Jehovah personally, and loving one another, having something useful to say to one another. Not getting drawn off into some sort of book-lore.For these things that it pretends to do, it is and has been remarkably successful and popular. The question is, why is it so far off the curve of books in general?S.