# selling bibles **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 20, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408 "2003-05-20T22:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lightweight\_traveller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ab097/32.png) [@lightweight\_traveller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightweight_traveller)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/1 "2003-05-20T22:34:08Z")
A fundy friend of mine told me that bible sales are over 1,500,000 copies a week (or was it month) so therefore Christianity has to be the only correct religion. I asked him if he mean’t “distributed” or sold, he said it didn’t make any difference. I already know that it is the worlds best selling book, but does anyone know the ratio of “distributed” to “sold” bibles? Taking into account that the distributed bibles have to be paid for by someone but not neccesarily the end user. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/2 "2003-05-20T22:38:58Z")
Ask your fundy friend, “Which Bible”. Aren’t there about a million different ones? I have debated this with a “fundy friend” and it indeed was as pointless as any other “debate” I have ever had with this guy. Welcome to the boards. * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/3 "2003-05-20T22:39:46Z")
Jesus would slap your friend silly for using an ad populum argument. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/4 "2003-05-20T22:41:00Z")
And also get that week/month thing cleared up. Kinda throws the numbers off by a factor of about 4! 😃 * * * Eyebrows are great. Everybody should have at least 2! ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/5 "2003-05-20T22:42:49Z")
oh yeah, welcome to the SDMB ---
**Author:** ![Lilairen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lilairen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilairen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/6 "2003-05-20T22:53:32Z")
I study Christianity for cultural reasons, because I am interested in theology, and because, as a pagan (among other reasons), I find it useful to be able to discuss Christianity coherently. I own a lot of Biblical commentary and exegesis, one Bible, one Septuagint in Greek and English, a Hebrew/English Tanakh, and a Greek-English New Testament. (Also two Korans (one Arabic-English) and a lot of other miscellaneous religious texts, including, of course, those relevant to my own faith.) Your friend should keep in mind that some people are collectors. 😉 Your friend should also keep in mind that for some people, a study of Christianity is a form of self-defense, not worship. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/7 "2003-05-20T23:49:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lightweight traveller \* > \*\*A fundy friend of mine told me that bible sales are over 1,500,000 copies a week (or was it month) so therefore Christianity has to be the only correct religion. I asked him if he mean’t “distributed” or sold, he said it didn’t make any difference. I already know that it is the worlds best selling book, but does anyone know the ratio of “distributed” to “sold” bibles? Taking into account that the distributed bibles have to be paid for by someone but not neccesarily the end user. \*\* So buying a bible is the way to heaven/ understanding Christianity? Wow, and here I was deluding myself in thinking that one had to actually read and understand the bible (not to mention follow the golden rule and believing Jesus is the savior). I think I’ll go out and buy two more bibles, so that I’ll be three times the Christian. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/8 "2003-05-20T23:53:48Z")
I would venture that the Bible is the most sold least really read book. ---
**Author:** ![lightweight\_traveller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ab097/32.png) [@lightweight\_traveller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightweight_traveller)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/9 "2003-05-21T00:48:04Z")
Thanks for the greetings. I understand the sarcasm and don’t think I didn’t visit that route either but if I can separate the “sold” from the “distributed” I may have won a point with this guy or at least make him think about what he suggested. Or why bother? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/10 "2003-05-21T02:27:38Z")
I think your friend is making an assumption as to what the person who is buying the bible is going to do with it. For all he knows there could be groups of people who buy tons of bibles only to have them left in hotels and not really see much use. ---
**Author:** ![Summertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Summertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Summertime)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/11 "2003-05-21T13:35:33Z")
Then what to make of the fact that people buy the National Enquirer at alarming rates? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/12 "2003-05-21T13:46:34Z")
Q: If everyone in the world went out and bought a book on how to use Windows XP, causing 6,000,000,000+ copies of the book to be sold, would that make Bill Gates divine? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Summertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Summertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Summertime)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/13 "2003-05-21T13:50:01Z")
Ah, some think he already is. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/14 "2003-05-21T14:06:20Z")
I don’t think there’s any way to count how many are distributed, but an awful lot of them are bought in bulk by evangelistic Christians and then handed out to victims in a variety of ways. They’re passed out in the military, by missionaries, by church groups, etc., and don’t forget those Gideons, that’s probably a few million Bibles a yera right there. In fact, I’m willing to bet that more Bibles are bought in bulk than they are individully, but I don’t know how to research it. In any case, the vast majority of people who own Bibles probably never open them up, and many, many people own Bibles who are not Christian. I own several myself and I’m a hardcore agnostic. BTW, what counts as a Bible? Does the Tanakh count? How about those little New Testaments? Greek New Testaments? Those who want to inflate the sales numbers will probably count anything they can as a Bible to get the number as high as possible, which is funny because many of those people will also insist on the KJV as the only legitimate scripture. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/15 "2003-05-21T15:57:52Z")
> [@](#): > > over 1,500,000 copies a week (or was it month) so therefore Christianity has to be the only correct religion. So, he has no faith, he only believes because of the evidence? Has he checked Quran sales? I’m sure these are in fact lower, but if they were higher would he convert? What about Torahs? Do bibles with an old testament count towards Judaism? Would it make a difference if most of these were sold as toliet paper? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/16 "2003-05-21T16:22:49Z")
[No one knows exactly how many Bibles are sold annually by all publishers because many guard their sales figures – but the total is in the tens of millions.](http://www.freep.com/money/consumer/guide12_20001112.htm) [BIBLE ILLITERACY RAMPANT IN AMERICA: Many quote it, buy it and revere it, but few read it](http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/religion.pat,fyi/3774f592.c02,.html) Includes this: > [@](#): > > at least 20 million Bibles are sold each year in addition to tens of millions that are distributed free and > [@](#): > > Gideons International annually distributes more than 45 million Bibles – an average of 86 per minute, better than one every second. Make of those statements what you will. The latter article also notes > [@](#): > > One Gallup survey, for example, shows that fewer than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible (Genesis), only one-third know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (many named Billy Graham, not Jesus), and one-quarter do not know what is celebrated on Easter (the Resurrection, the foundational event of Christianity). > > The Bible, it seems, is the book that everyone wants to read but few do. > > . . . > > “Biblical illiteracy is rampant even though so many people seem to be getting into the Word,” Dzurovcik said, using a popular term for the Christian Scriptures. “The Bible is the best-selling, least read and least understood book.” > > Or as George W. Gallup, the nation’s foremost religion pollster, has put it: > > “We revere the Bible but we don’t read it.” > > Worse, Gallup said, “the level of biblical knowledge appears to have hardly budged,” since 1935, even though the percentage of people with a college education has more than tripled. > > The evidence from Gallup and several other surveys, many by publishing houses, makes that clear. > > For example, despite the talk about how important the Ten Commandments are to the moral health of American society, six out of 10 Americans can’t name half of them, much less in order. I will also concur that the whole notion of matching sales to belief and concluding truth is simply absurd. Sales of the Qur’an are probably much lower than sales of the Bible simply because more Muslim countries have poorer people who cannot afford them (and who may have greater numbers who are not sufficiently literate to read them). Does this mean that in the eighth and ninth centuries, when far more Muslims than Christians owned and read their respective holy books, that at that time Islam was true and Christianity was not? ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/17 "2003-05-21T16:36:30Z")
I own at least 5 bibles (I’m only listing the ones I know I have in my book collection, as quite alot of it is inherited from my Great-granfather who was a rector, there could possibly be more in there): Latin and Greek from 17th century, Welsh, Greek, French and English from the 19th century. I also have a brand new English translation of the Koran but as it isn’t in Arabic in cannot be considered to be the true text. But the point is though I am not very relgious, so are bible sales really a great indictaor of how ‘truthful’ a relgion is considering that someon like me owns at least five copies. ---
**Author:** ![lightweight\_traveller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ab097/32.png) [@lightweight\_traveller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightweight_traveller)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/18 "2003-05-21T22:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > **I will also concur that the whole notion of matching sales to belief and concluding truth is simply absurd.** I agree completely. By the way, my fundie?, also says that Jesus is the most important man/god in history because the calender was based on his birth. See what I’m up against? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/19 "2003-05-21T23:29:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lightweight traveller \* > \*\*I agree completely. By the way, my fundie?, also says that Jesus is the most important man/god in history because the calender was based on his birth. See what I’m up against? \*\* Maybe you should let your friend know that the BC/AD calander is off by at least 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![RandySpears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@RandySpears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandySpears)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408/20 "2003-05-22T00:05:17Z")
[hijack]do all profits from the selling of bibles go to churchs? Can anyone make dough from selling bibles?[/hijack] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-bibles/176408.md?page=2)