Bible created by a local pastor to help laymen understand Word

Scott and Jane Johnson were sitting in their living room together, Jane reading her Bible while Scott reflected upon their recent trip to Israel.

She was reading her Bible about the Jordan River experience that Jesus was baptized in. Scott Johnson recalls that she was reading the Bible in our living room and had a red-letter Bible. “There is a voice from Heaven that says, ‘This my son in whom you are well pleased.’ She read it and said, “Hon, why didn’t God get a colour?”

That question led Scott to research the red letter Bible, which he found was conceived in 1899 by Louis Klopsch, who thought red – the color of blood – would help highlight the words of Jesus Christ for readers.

The first red book Bible was published the same year. The Oregonian newspaper reported that the first 60,000 copies of the first red book Bible sold quickly. Since then, red letter bibles are widely published.

Scott Johnson thought he had learned something new about God’s Word and would soon be asleep. When he awoke in the middle night, he realized he had an alternative way to highlight important Bible words.

“I don’t remember if God told us, an angel said to me, the Spirit spoke to me, but I answered, ‘He does have color. “He will have a colour from now on, and it is blue,” he recalled. “Why blue? This is the color I thought of when I was asleep. It’s fitting because the sky is Blue and Heaven is There.

To symbolize the Spirit’s fire, the Holy Spirit should also have its highlights in gold. Jesus’ words would continue to be in red.

Thus, the BRG – blue, red, gold — Bible was conceived.

Now, thirteen years later, the first copies are available in wide circulation. They were printed and delivered.

Start the process

Johnson has received a few copies of BRG Bible before. Johnson printed copies of the BRG Bible on demand in 2013 as readers requested. However, at $40-50 per copy, it was prohibitively expensive for widespread distribution.

The Johnsons also partnered with e-Sword Bible, where they offered a digital copy of the BRG Bible to be downloaded for free. Bible Gateway, a Christian website and app, requested digital copies of the BRG Bible two years later.

BRG Editions have been downloaded over 50 million times worldwide, even in Spanish.

Three years ago, the Johnsons decided that printing the BRG edition would be worth another attempt.

“The quality of the color printing process has improved. As you can see, the colors are not blemished through the Bible pages. Three colors were impossible before. However, Worldwide Printing, a printer, said that they were able to do it. Technology since the pandemic has improved, Scott Johnson stated. “It took almost three years to put it all together.”

BRG Bible now uses the King James Version of the Bible. Along with the blue words and names of God in blue, messages from angels and other heavenly beings are underlined. Messianic prophesies, however, are underlined and underlined. Scott stated that those are the only differences; the words are unchanged.

The BRG edition typesetting was the first step in the printing process. Scott and the couple worked with a Minneapolis-based firm to do this. Scott also noted that the owner of that firm fell ill during typesetting and that they had to send an assistant to Argentina for some of the work.

The printable PDF version was then sent to a Nashville editor.

Scott and Jane looked for a printer capable of printing the three colors on the Bible pages.

“We met World Wide Printing during a convention held in Atlanta, Georgia. We also met with a Chinese printer. Both wanted to do the deal, but they decided to work with Worldwide due to their Dallas headquarters.” he stated.

After the revised version had been edited, it was sent out to Minsk (Belarus), where World Wide’s printing presses can be found. The presses began to run in September and 2000 copies of the KJV BRG Edition were shipped out from Minsk on Dec. 28th.

The pallet of Bibles traveled through the Ukrainian warzone until it reached the Port of Odessa. From there, they were shipped to New York City. They arrived at El Dorado on Monday, February 20th, were kept in customs almost a month after arriving there.

Scott Johnson stated that Clear Harbors delivered the pallet at noon on spring equinox to the East Faulkner parish. “I consider that significant, as it symbolizes the spiritual separation between light and dark. It’s also historically attributed to be the day Gabriel spoke to Mary – the conception was on the equinox.”

Next steps

East Faulkner Church of Christ pastor Scott Johnson has copies of the BRG Bible available for $10. Johnson stated that the church is not open 24/7 so those who are interested can reach him at [email protected] For more information on the BRG edition, click here

Scott Johnson stated that he believes the BRG edition may help laymen to understand the Bible.

He said, “I believe that’s exactly it does.” “We all know the Bible was inspired, and the Spirit was involved with its writing. But when you get to the red sentence of Christ, it emphasizes that fact. These words are spoken by God the Father.

Johnson suggested that BRG might be a good option for pastors who want to understand the Word better.

He said, “I believe it gives teachers a deeper rendering” of the message.

He also noted that yellow, red, and blue are the primary colors for light. This symbol is another way to represent God, who is often compared with light.

The BRG edition currently only prints the New Testament. Scott Johnson indicated that he is looking for a publisher to finance printing the Old Testament in a BRG Edition.

Jane and he are currently in discussions with the New International Version (NIV), he stated. They also plan to create a digital BRG edition.

He stated, “Since it was completed the first time, it’s only grown.” “I believe this is a positive change for the Bible without it being a major change to the Bible.” It’s a small effort in kindergarten; I just bought two more crayons.