The question should be rephrased, to make it not that obvious and more interesting what the answer will be: what is the most influential non-religious book?
Yeah, when I wrote the question I totally forgot religions existed. I was thinking more of something like Capital or 1984.
I think Gutenberg’s Bible, because the translation destroyed the privilege of sole interpretation by the clergy. From a technical perspective, it was the cornerstone of the information age through the invention of moveable letters/ letterpress.
The first testament, I’d wager.
The Bible may seem the obvious answer from a western persective, but really how much have its specifics affected society? The Quran, on the other hand, is considered essentially all-knowing and unadulterated in its religion, so is probably a lot more influential, even if you think that Islam was less influential than Christianity, which is debatable.
God and the state - mijael bakunin Hitchhikers guide through the galaxy
I guess that’s hard to determine, which is the most influential. I think religious books like the Bible, the Quran, … were very influential. Or “Capital” by Karl Marx.
Marx would definitely be less influential than religious texts. It’s massively influential to be sure, but the Christian Bible and Quran were shaping empires for over a thousand years before Marx put pen to paper.
The Bible seems like the obvious answer, what might be a more interesting question is: what is the most influential book now?
