Why I Dislike Red Letters in Bibles

Why I dislike red letters in Bibles, a brief explanation.

[eelcob]

I like red letters, when they're dark like Cambridge does. But I do understand you.

[Anteater]

I am going to buy my first Bible to read properly. Time to pour into God’s Word.

[Blakefan]

I agree. The older I get, the more effort it takes for me to read red letter editions. The other reason I dislike red letter editions, is they can minimize the importance of scripture that were not spoken by Christ for some readers. All scripture is the infallible, inspired word of God, not just the red text.

[pastorforthemaster]

I’ve been Red Letter all my life, but as I get older I seem to be gravitating to Black Letter editions more. Plus, the Black Letter makes me more conscientious of what I’m reading. I enjoy your videos! Keep up the great work!

[CrimsonFile-ud]

I agree completely with all your reasons and for textual and theological reasons as well.

[bondee]

You're right; red doesn't show up clearly on my phone screen either

[CAVEDATA]

Im really gonna enjoy watching this channel explode.

[libby]

Thank you. I agree with you in general and very much appreciate your analysis and commentary. For me, currently, the value of the red letters overcomes the drawbacks.

[tomf]

Thank you Rick, It was nice watching another video from you. I'm glad you tackled the red letter issue once & for all 🩸😊 Well done 👍

[zachtbh]

I grew up with the nkjv red letter. When I switched to esv all black letter, it took me sometime to get used to it. But after watching your explanation, it got me thinking how on earth did I managed to bare with the red letters during the earlier years 😅

[RoastBeefSandwich]

I can understand why some may prefer red letters, especially preachers so they can quickly find their place on the page, but I much prefer everything on the page to be the same color. In my office where I do much of my reading, often times the red just seems to disappear - it is much more difficult to read. And when the red is opposite black letters, it's much more difficult to read due to ghosting.

[danivuk]

Almost 2300, bedtime, tired, about to go to sleep and BOOM. A video from R. Grant Jones. Must watch. At least it was not long. I agree, my eyesight can not handle it as well. was not a problem before. Good night Mr. Jones.

[russjosey]

I never understood putting what Jesus said (while he was here in the flesh) in red. John 1 clearly says that it is all His Words.

[nottechytutorials]

I appreciate you pointing out the technical aspects for problems with red-letter text editions of the Bible. If its the red colour that gets you, I saw that Humblelamb publishes Bibles with blue-letter text (and single-column too which is a plus), so maybe you can give that a look. But I do prefer just black text for reading.

[larrym.johnson]

Dr Grant Jones, I wonder if you can answer a question for me, who had the idea to start printing The words of Christ in red? Was it a particular publisher, or denomination that started the practice. I do suffer from eye strain myself it's not necessarily the red print it's trying to focus on the lines. Thank you for doing the video.

[richardgreene]

The only caveat to my previous comments is: I'll get a red- letter Bible if their is no other alternatives to the particular Bible version or format that I like and if the red is more on the darker side. However, I'm glad that Bible publishers are printing more black letter Bibles!

[casey]

I remember as a kid I was told the entire Bible was inspired, by God. I was told John 1:3 said All things were made by Him. So, I never understood why God saying something through an author of the Bible was different or somehow less inspired/important than He was being quoted as saying.

[moisesg.v.]

I agree with you. BLACK LETTER all the way.

Red text just doesn't have the readability of black text. The contrast ratio between the text and the page isn't as high as black on white so reading long passages can get tiring. It actually gives me a headache.

[Haexz]

I have theological issues with the Trinitarian bible society but they are arguably the best seller of producing high quality, reasonably priced bibles in only black letter editions. But for the life of me I can't find a cheap black letter nkjv or nasb bible, red letters are annoying and unneeded in a bible imo (both from a practical and theological standpoint).