Is it true that the old book (about 300 years old I think) Pilgrims
Progress by Bunyan has been published far and away more than all the
copies ever published of the Koran?  Thankyou. McIsencraft

PS A $1.00 tip if a researcher answers this by June 7th 2004

---

Clarification of Question by mcisencraft-ga on 04 Jun 2004 15:18 PDT

pink  Yes fantastic work. Please post your work as an answer or
whatever you have to do so I can hit the pay button for your great
work. Your answer has answered a 1000 questions.

Thank you vey much for accepting the material I located as the answer
to your question. I've reposted the links below.

Here are some sources that cite "The Pilgrim's Progress" as the second
most widely read book, after the Bible:

"Foxes' Book of Martyrs (A review of the original)

'Pilgrim's Progress' has sold more copies, in more languages than any
other non biblical book. "During his imprisonment he [John Bunyan]
wrote that wondrous book [Pilgrim's Progress] of which it may safely
be affirmed that no other book except the Bible has been translated
into so many languages, passed through so many editions, commanded so
many millions of readers, or been useful to the spiritual welfare of
such multitudes"

Orion's Gate
http://www.orionsgate.org/books.html

"The Pilgrim's Progress..

The libretto of the musical is based on the text by an English writer
John Bunyan (1628-1688). Bunyan's work is the most widespread book in
the world after the Bible."

Fredom Music
http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/kalevi.ukkola/ppeng.htm

"The Pilgrim?s Progress was penned while he was in the Bedford prison.
It has become the second most widely read book of all time after the
Bible."

Solam Fidem
http://www.solamfidem.org/pilgrim's_progress.htm

"It was a dangerous occupation after the Restoration and led to long
periods of imprisonment during which Bunyan wrote one of the classic
English texts of all time. Pilgrims Progress, though little read
today, is a book which has informed the religious thinking of
millions. Within Bunyan's own life-time it sold 100,000 copies. Since
then it has been translated into over 200 languages and is said to be
the second biggest selling book in world history after the bible."

BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/search/2prog1.shtml

"BRAIN STRAINER:  What is the second best seller after the Bible? 
 Answer:  John Bunyon's classic Christian allegory "Pilgrim's Progress."

ELO Evangelical Church
http://libertywebs.com/Elo/NewsLetterJuly.htm

"Who wrote the best-selling book of all time, after the Bible? John
Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress."

Reformed Baptist 
http://www.reformedbaptist.info/page/page/1082154.htm

This was the search string that led me to the links above:

Google Web Search: "pilgrim's progress" "after the bible"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22pilgrim%27s+progress%22+%22after+the+bible

Best wishes,
Pink

Pink You do great work. Thanks for getting this one nailed down. M

Here are some sources that cite "The Pilgrim's Progress" as the second
most widely read book, after the Bible:

"Foxes' Book of Martyrs (A review of the original)

'Pilgrim's Progress' has sold more copies, in more languages than any
other non biblical book. "During his imprisonment he [John Bunyan]
wrote that wondrous book [Pilgrim's Progress] of which it may safely
be affirmed that no other book except the Bible has been translated
into so many languages, passed through so many editions, commanded so
many millions of readers, or been useful to the spiritual welfare of
such multitudes"

http://www.orionsgate.org/books.html

"The Pilgrim's Progress..

The libretto of the musical is based on the text by an English writer
John Bunyan (1628-1688). Bunyan's work is the most widespread book in
the world after the Bible."

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/kalevi.ukkola/ppeng.htm

"The Pilgrim?s Progress was penned while he was in the Bedford prison.
It has become the second most widely read book of all time after the
Bible."

http://www.solamfidem.org/pilgrim's_progress.htm

"It was a dangerous occupation after the Restoration and led to long
periods of imprisonment during which Bunyan wrote one of the classic
English texts of all time. Pilgrims Progress, though little read
today, is a book which has informed the religious thinking of
millions. Within Bunyan's own life-time it sold 100,000 copies. Since
then it has been translated into over 200 languages and is said to be
the second biggest selling book in world history after the bible."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/search/2prog1.shtml

"BRAIN STRAINER:  What is the second best seller after the Bible? 
Answer:  John Bunyon's classic Christian allegory "Pilgrim's
Progress."

http://libertywebs.com/Elo/NewsLetterJuly.htm

"Who wrote the best-selling book of all time, after the Bible?
John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress." 

http://www.reformedbaptist.info/page/page/1082154.htm

I am a bit uncomfortable about answering the question without having
more precise statistics, but I have not been able to find good
estimates of the distribution of "The Pilgrim's Progress" in relation
to the Bible and the Koran. Do the quotes above meet your needs?

Oops. Please forgive my typographical error. In the first sentence of
my answer, "Thank you vey much" should, of course, be "Thank you very
much."

Lately, my typing fingers seem to be going faster than my brain. ;-)

Thank you very much for the kind words, the five stars, and the tip!

~pinkfreud

There may be an error in this answer. The Qur'an is not only read, but
it is repeated. The Qur'an does hold the world record for being the
most memorized book; those who memorize it in its entirety are given
the title "Hafiz of Qur'an." Every practicing Muslim knows at least a
few chapters in order to pray. Every year during Ramadan, Muslims
gather at mosques throughout the world and recite 1/30th of the Qur'an
every night. After 30 days, the entire book is recited. This tradition
has continued for nearly 1400 years, and there are millions of Huffaz
(plural of Hafiz) who are hired worldwide every Ramadan to perform the
duty of recitation.

I suspect that this answer may be incorrect. To more accurately
determine the answer, we would need numbers; the estimated number of
published copies of "Pilgrims Progress" and the number of Qur'ans
printed, as well as an estimate of the number of Huffaz.