Smoking Makes Bibles Cost More
The Logos Bible Software Blog points to an article about how the rise of smoking in China drives up the cost of Bible paper.
There are at least two good reasons to stop smoking. Number one: It may damage your health. Number two: It raises the production costs for Bibles, ASSIST News Service reports. The Chinese craving for cigarettes is responsible for rising paper costs in bible printing, according to the business manager of the German Bible Society, Felix Breidenstein. Because of the rising demand for cigarette paper in China the special thin paper used in bible printing is getting more expensive, as Breidenstein told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
Also see the original article (in German) or Google’s translation.
The same paper machines that produce Bible paper also produce other very thin papers like cigarette paper. Bible paper weighs about 35 grams per square meter (gsm, or grammage), while cigarette paper weighs about 20-24 gsm. Typical photocopier paper weighs about 80 gsm.
These thin-paper machines produce proportionally less Bible paper as they use more of their capacity for cigarette paper. Prices for Bible paper naturally rise when supply falls.
Other factors affect the recent increase in Bible-paper costs (including higher prices for raw materials), but the two trillion cigarettes smoked annually by the Chinese (and the 3.5 trillion smoked elsewhere) play a part.
April 30th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Chinese smokers.
April 30th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Wondering why Bibles are getting increasingly pricey? Blame the Chinese nicotine addiction.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
It might not seem like a usual choice, but apparently because of the similarity between cigarette papers and the pages of bibles, the same machines produce both…
April 30th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Before we went to Namibia some former missionaries there mentioned that the authorities liked Bibles and would take them from you. They said that they would take them and immediately start tearing pages out and making cigarettes…
April 30th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Smoking Makes Bibles Cost More…
May 1st, 2007 at 9:06 am
A friend of mine quipped, “We should encourage them to go out and buy copies…
May 1st, 2007 at 9:07 am
Cigarette causes the cost of Bible to go up. Blame it on the…
May 1st, 2007 at 9:09 am
I Thought So…
May 1st, 2007 at 9:12 am
demand for cigarette paper in China the special thin paper used in bible printing is getting more expensive…
May 1st, 2007 at 9:13 am
Does Smoking Impede the Gospel?
May 1st, 2007 at 9:14 am
Ever wonder why Bibles cost more these days? Read why over at the Logos and ESV blogs. The short answer: Chinese smoking habits.
May 1st, 2007 at 9:32 am
Bible: Logos and the ESV blogs agree that smoking drives up the cost of Bibles…
May 1st, 2007 at 12:01 pm
ESV BLOG POINTS out that smoking increases the cost of Bibles.
May 1st, 2007 at 12:01 pm
The smoking ban came into force in NI yesterday. I think this is a good thing for lots of reasons none more so than it might lead to a reduction in the cost of Bibles!! Read more about it on the ESV blog…
May 4th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Bibles cost more because Chinese people smoke.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Welcome to the Weekly Town Crier. This is where I proclaim through the blogosphere what might or might not be worth hearing. That’s for you to decide and for me to proclaim. This is a list of some of the stuff that caught my eye this…
May 15th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Is this for real? Blaming bible price increases on Chinese smoking?…
May 15th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Are you struggling to find a Scripture to tell you whether or not it is ok to smoke cigarettes? You probably will not find it without a little creative interpretation, but if you still require justification for not smoking,…
May 20th, 2007 at 7:41 am
The Logos Bible Software Blog points to an article about how the rise of smoking in China drives up the cost of Bible paper…
July 1st, 2007 at 7:50 am
here’s an interesting post from a blogger i read on a fairly regular basis. maybe this is part of the reason…
October 1st, 2007 at 7:45 am
Smettete di fumare ei prezzi delle Bibbie crolleranno. No, non è uno scherzo.