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Herostratus (talk | contribs) →Influence: 1) Name another. The Koran is younger and there a fewer Muslims and their reach, while enormous, is less than the world-defining empires and industrial nations of the west. No other single book competes. 2) Name another. The source says that the King James Bible alone is the world's best-selling book. It decieves the reader to say "New York is one of the largest cities in America" even tho not false, technically |
Disagree. Until and unless we accompany that with a strict definition of "influential" and then demonstrate that the Bible alone fits the top spot, WITH multiple references - stay away from the absolutes here |
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{{Main|Role of Christianity in civilization}}{{Further|History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance|The Bible and violence|Women in the Bible}}
{{See also|Category:Works based on the Bible}}
With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible is one of the most influential work ever written. From practices of personal hygiene to philosophy and ethics, the Bible has directly and indirectly influenced politics and law, war and peace, sexual morals, marriage and family life, letters and learning, the arts, economics, social justice, medical care and more.{{sfn|Riches|2000|loc=ch. 1}}
The Bible is the world's most published book, with estimated total sales of over five billion copies.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903918104576502782310557332|title=How We Got the Best-Selling Book of All Time |last1=Ryken |first1=Leland |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=9 December 2015 |archive-date=8 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508064956/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903918104576502782310557332 |url-status=live}}</ref> As such, the Bible has had a profound influence, especially in the [[Western world]],<ref>{{cite book|title=God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible|first=Jonathan |last=Burnside|year= 2011| isbn=978-0-19-975921-7| page = XXVI|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Readings in Western Religious Thought: The ancient world|first=Patrick|last= V. Reid|year= 1987| isbn=978-0-8091-2850-1| page =43|publisher=Paulist Press|quote=}}</ref> where the [[Gutenberg Bible]] was the first book printed in Europe using [[movable type]].{{sfn|Riches|2000|loc=chs. 1 and 4}} It has contributed to the formation of [[Western law]], [[Western art|art]], [[Western literature|literature]], and education.<ref>{{cite book|title= Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry|first=Harold |last= G. Koenig|year= 2009| isbn=978-0-521-88952-0| page =31 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|quote= The Bible is the most globally influential and widely read book ever written. ... it has been a major influence on the behavior, laws, customs, education, art, literature, and morality of Western civilization.}}</ref>
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