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Red letter or Black letter

Discussion in 'Bible Versions & Translations' started by hawg_427, Aug 3, 2006.

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  1. hawg_427

    hawg_427 Member

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    I am wondering what most people prefer in a study Bible. The Red Letter editions or the Black Letter editions. Wonder why some like the Macarthur study Bible do not come Red letter....:confused:
     
  2. RedGhost

    RedGhost New Member

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    I use bibles that are both red and black letter editions....it really doesn't make much
    difference to me.

    I heard John MacArthur say while preaching he didn't like red letter bibles. It was
    a long time ago...so I don't remember the exact reason. Probably something to
    do with people just focusing on the red letter parts and skipping other black letter
    sections.

    My favorite study bible is the Reformation Study Bible (ESV) version:

    http://www.reformationstudybible.com/

    peace,
    RG.
     
  3. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    No difference to me at all.
     
  4. Marcia

    Marcia Active Member

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    I don't have a strong preference, but I also think that it's easy to skip over the black letters when you have the red letters popping out of the page.

    Isn't it true that there is dispute as to whether Jesus said something or not in a few places?? That would make the red letter versions not as desirable, imo.
     
  5. StefanM

    StefanM Well-Known Member
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    I prefer black letter editions because they are easier to read, IMO.
     
  6. franklinmonroe

    franklinmonroe Active Member

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    Marcia, it is most likely you are remembering the results of the Jesus Seminar of some years ago. And it was much more that a few places.

    An elite group voted on the likelyhood that Jesus actually said something or not. Naturally, this liberal group concluded that Jesus actually said very little of what is recorded in the Gospels.

    Now, in reality, we don't have the actual words that Jesus said since he spoke primarily in Aramaic (although he probably was at least bilingual as most Hebrews of his day, he could also have spoken in Greek, Hebrew and other dialects). The Gospels were recorded in Greek, anything spoken in Aramaic was already translated for us (with a few exceptions in Mark of Aramaic sayings). Of course, for most of us the Greek is then translated into a modern language (like English, French, Spanish, etc).

    This fact should not overly concern us as to the message that God wanted us to receive. However, it appears that goal of the Jesus Seminar was undermine faith in the Word of God. You can obtain the JS published Scholar's Edition, Five Gospels (includes the gnostic Gospel of Thomas) and see how they butchered text of the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
     
    #6 franklinmonroe, Aug 26, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 26, 2006
  7. EdSutton

    EdSutton New Member

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    BLACK!! Any questions?

    Ed
     
  8. Forever settled in heaven

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    cld it possibly be:

    1. the original text didn't differentiate Christ's words fr the rest of God's Word--in the Gk they just ran one into the other, sometimes without spacing even.

    2. putting a difference may imply degrees of inspiration or superiority within the Holy Writ--red letters are somehow holier than, um, black.

    3. it's hard to decide where Christ's words end n the writer's narrative/commentary begins in places, e.g. John 3--where do red letters end n revert to black?
    but i personally do like the red to help me identify our Lord's sayings n parables more quickly. :smilewinkgrin:
     
  9. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

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    Red

    Any answers?
     
  10. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

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    What I like most about Red letter Bibles is the reaction that some have . . .

    " . . . What a Red letter Bible? How can you read that?"

    That is one of the weirdest statements for a non-color blind person to make . . .
     
  11. Trotter

    Trotter <img src =/6412.jpg>

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    Actually, MacArthur doesn't use red letter editions because of his notes. He uses red to emphasize points for his own reference, as well as various color highlighters.

    I gleaned this from one of his books (Rediscovering Expository Preaching, I do believe).
     
  12. Keith M

    Keith M New Member

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    Slight preference for red but it isn't a major issue with me.
     
  13. Joseph_Botwinick

    Joseph_Botwinick <img src=/532.jpg>Banned

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    I grew up reading red letter Bibles. It wasn't until I heard about the Red Letter "Christian" movement that I developed a negative view of those kinds of Bibles. It is probably not fair of me, and I readily admit that. I do think we need to be careful, however, not to allow their heresy to color (pardon the pun) the way we view the Bible by focusing more on the red letters to the exclusion of the black letters as if the rest were not the Word of God (Christ) as well. This can lead, IMO, to a perhaps unintentional denial of the diety of Christ. If all Scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking and training in righteousness, then all scripture is the teaching of Christ.

    Link

    Joseph Botwinick
     
  14. EdSutton

    EdSutton New Member

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    Yes! Absolutely. The post immediately preceding yours which I shall quote from, has several of the 'reasons'. So I will either agree with these, or give my answers, as to why I agree or disagree in bold, for differentiation, with perhaps emphasis where applicable.




    I would not have any objection, necessarily, to every word in red (for which I've never heard any preference), in deference to someone who happens to be color-blind, especially as one who happens to be slightly color-blind in one eye. My objection, as should seem to be obvious, is the differentiation.

    Ed


     
  15. BruceB

    BruceB New Member

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    For my primary reading/studying Bible I prefer the red letter editions, but in limited type Bibles (such as a small vest-pocket New Testaments) I will use black letter only. Bruce
     
  16. TC

    TC Active Member
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    I don't really care as long as the print is of good quality. Red is harder for me to read if the print quality is poor.
     
  17. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    Black-lettering all the way with me . A "slight preference for red" is pink :smilewinkgrin: !
     
  18. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    I like the black lettering....

    On a side note, I wonder how long it will be before the liberals come up with a Rainbow letter bible.:laugh:
     
  19. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    Don't give them any ideas TT .
     
  20. EdSutton

    EdSutton New Member

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    I still prefer all black. Somehow , it seems [COLOR=Olive]e[COLOR=Teal]a[COLOR=Blue]s[COLOR=Red]i[COLOR=SeaGreen]e[COLOR=RoyalBlue]r [COLOR=Purple]o[COLOR=Orange]n [COLOR=Magenta]m[COLOR=Lime]y [COLOR=Yellow]e[COLOR=Cyan]y[COLOR=Pink]e[COLOR=LemonChiffon]s[COLOR=PaleTurquoise].![COLOR=Plum]!

    E[COLOR=DarkOrange]d[/COLOR] [COLOR=DarkRed]-[/COLOR] [COLOR=Red]'er [COLOR=PaleGreen]I [COLOR=Cyan]m[COLOR=SandyBrown]e[COLOR=SlateGray]a[COLOR=LightBlue]n, [COLOR=Black]E[COLOR=Red]d[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
    [/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
     
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