# Words of Christ in Red **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746 "2004-01-10T00:06:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pepsi\_Classic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pepsi\_Classic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pepsi_Classic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/1 "2004-01-10T00:06:43Z")
Is there any reason that some Bibles have the words of Christ printed in red other than to make the words distinctive? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/2 "2004-01-10T00:15:05Z")
You’ve fairly well covered it. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/3 "2004-01-10T02:18:57Z")
The “red-letter” Bibles were introduced by Dr. Louis Klopsch, the first editor of the _Christian Herald_, in 1901. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/4 "2004-01-10T19:02:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*The “red-letter” Bibles were introduced by Dr. Louis Klopsch, the first editor of the _Christian Herald_, in 1901. \*\* CITE. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/5 "2004-01-10T19:15:19Z")
Here’s [one from the Urantia people](http://www.urantiabook.org/archive/readers/atonement.html): > [@](#): > > The “red letter” Bible version originated with the German born Louis Klopsch. Klopsch later became the publisher of the American edition of the Christian Herald. According to Klopsch, the idea of the “red letter” occurred to him after reading Luke 22:20 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Funk, Robert W., The Five Gospels: what did Jesus really say? (Polebridge Press, Sonoma Ca. and HarperCollins Publishers Co., New York, 1993) p. 37. Does it still count? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/6 "2004-01-10T19:48:29Z")
Does no Bible distinctly highlight the Word of God the Father as this Bible highlights the Word of God the Son? How about God the Holy Spirit (…He has spoken through the Prophets…)? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/7 "2004-01-10T22:17:48Z")
Wasn’t this done in The Neverending Story, too? Or something like it, with coloured writing in some parts? Gosh it’s a great book- The Neverending Story, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/8 "2004-01-10T22:32:39Z")
The [Rainbow Study Bible](http://www.rainbowstudies.com/home2.html) takes this concept to the extreme by color coding twelve different Biblical concepts. It uses bold underlining for all spoken Words of God (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/9 "2004-01-10T22:38:39Z")
In the original ancient hieroglyphic text of the _Egyptian Book of the Dead_, most of it was written in black, but certain passages were in red. This is not a new idea. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/10 "2004-01-11T02:02:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cat Fight \* > \*\*Wasn’t this done in The Neverending Story, too? Or something like it, with coloured writing in some parts? Gosh it’s a great book- The Neverending Story, I mean. \*\* I have a first edition (American) of The Neverending Story, and the text is indeed printed in colors other than black. The “real world” parts of the story are printed in red, while the Fantastica portions of the story are printed in green. This reflects the description of the book Bastian is reading as having been printed in two colors. Later American editions of this book dropped the two-color scheme–I suspect to save on the costs of printing. The two later editions I have are printed entirely in black text, but with italics representing the portions of the story set in the real world. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-of-christ-in-red/223746/11 "2004-01-11T05:37:05Z")
When I first saw this thread, it was near one about the Republican states in red and the Democratic states in Blue. The juxtaposition gave me the shudders, and I fled to the Ball State vs. Toledo ball game. The Cardinals upset the Rockets, so I came back to check on this thread. Red over Blue on the hardwood court, but I’m shaking off all that figure-of-speech stuff. The car art arrest in Indianapolis has no bearing on anything else, right? ;);):eek: