A few basic questions about books throw an interesting light on the Bible:
How many books are there that run to over half a million words?
There are a few super-long novels that most people have never heard of. Among the famous ones, War and Peace, Les Miserables, and Gone With the Wind all come in at around a half-million. Dickens’ David Copperfield, his longest work, clocks over a third of a million. The Book of Mormon is a little shorter. The Koran and the Bhagavad Gita both have less than a tenth of a million. Marx’s Das Kapital reaches about two-thirds of a million. Mission Earth by L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, reaches over a million. The Bible has over three-quarters of a million. Not unique, but very special.
How many books were written in two different languages?
Silly question! Who would produce a book in two languages? However, the Bible was written in both Hebrew and Greek. It is probably the only book to be written in two completely different languages.
On the invention of the printing press, which book was most printed?
The Bible.
What is the most printed book today?
The Bible.
Which book has been translated into the greatest number of different languages?
The Bible.
Which books have their own special paper?
The Bible. It’s a very highly specified paper, typically about 30gsm, always known in the print industry in the past simply as “Bible Paper.”
Which books have people been willing to kill or die for?
The Koran. The Bible. Das Kapital. Mein Kampf. A number of others.
Which books have people been willing to die for, but not to kill for?
The Bible.
Which books were written partly in Palaces, partly in Prison?
The Bible. Possibly some others.
Which books have taken thousands of years to write?
Silly again! How can somebody plan to write a book over thousands of years? However, there’s the Bible.
Which book holds the record for being burned the most?
Any guesses? The Bible?
Which book has gathered the most dust ever?
Has to be the Bible!
This article is not seriously suggesting that anyone forgets what the Bible says. But it has to be significant that, quite apart from what it says, the Bible stands out quite unlike any other. Suppose there was a God who wanted to leave Mankind with a detailed witness of Himself and His desires that would pass down through time. That witness would need to be in writing. And it would need to stand out in some way or ways from everything else ever written. It would need to be preserved, and be at least potentially accessible to all people, in both non-digital and digital ages. The Bible fits those requirements perfectly. So it’s either a most improbable product of chance, or there is such a God, and the Bible is His Word. Either way it’s remarkable. Yet very few people have read it cover-to-cover even once.