No, no, no. The Bible became popular for the same reason Harry Potter became popular – the story “speaks” to people. Sure, it’s mostly fiction, but that only becomes a problem once the reader starts believing it’s not.
Frankly, I’m upset that Hammurabi’s Code of Laws isn’t required reading – that particular text had a much greater influence on our post-ancient civilization.
The Bible became popular because that was dominant religion in the western world, and for a long while, the only book that the common people had any familiarity with.
Even now, it’s a very commonly owned book, and people give lip service to its importance, but only a minority ever actually read the thing.
Before even opening this thread, I knew a lot of people would respond with survival-type books. But I think it is more interesting (and I think the movie felt the same way, even though I’m not sure the Bible is the best example) to try to determine what the most important book would be to all aspects of a culture. Maybe a book the combines science, history, poetry, art, etc. I think the writers thought the Bible would be that book, but is there one that could be a better choice? I don’t really have a suggestion, I just think it is more interesting than the SAS Survival Guide…