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Written literature seldom endures more than a few generations. Less than one percent of books published remain in print for more than a few years. The cultural references date the material and even make it difficult to translate into other languages.

Thus it is amazing to note that the Bible has remained in print longer than any other text in history - in fact, it was the first book ever machine printed! (The Guttenberg Bible). It has also been translated into virtually every known written language and is always in the top three selling books worldwide.

This despite the fact that it has been around at least 1,700 years!

No other book has had as much impact on the societies of the world as the Bible. If it were irrelevant it would, and should be ignored by governments and religions around the world.

Actually, reality is the opposite. Oppressive theocracies, dictatorships and socialist states expend tremendous energy trying to keep any of their citizens (subjects?) from even reading a few pages.

Many Muslim countries are so threatened by the Bible that it is treated as contraband by their Customs agents. My small personal copy of the New Testament was confiscated when I stopped in a Muslim country just to change planes. That is not how you react to a book that's "irrelevant."

I recently read a story of a woman who got a small piece of a Bible in North Korea. She was surprised and enlightened by the words in just those few pages. Unfortunately, this is forbidden in the "Hermit Kingdom." All citizens are limited to only one faith - "Juche" which is the whole-hearted worship of Kim Jung Il and his father, Kim Il Sung.

The woman endured months of torture at the hands of the police and two trials. At one point her hands were beaten for hours with metal pipes. Another time she was tied to a chair while men jumped on her knees. She was eventually freed because her husband paid huge bribes to her guards. Her weight had dropped to 62 pounds by then.

Nobody puts a person through such treatment for a meaningless book. No one endures such punishment for "just another book." There must be something about a 2,000+ year old book to cause such a reaction.

China, Russia, Vietnam and most of the nations of modern Islam repress the Bible to some degree; many go to extremes on the level described before.

Part of the reason for this fear in the hearts of dictators all over the world is the impact the Bible has on people. It has a way of transforming lives like no other book. The Bible inspires

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