Local pastor produces Bible aimed at helping laymen understand Word

Scott and Jane Johnson sat together in their living rooms, Jane reading her Bible, while Scott reflected on their recent trip.

“She was reading her bible that week about the Jordan River Experience, when Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River. Scott Johnson recalls that she was reading the Bible in our living room and had a red-letter Bible. “There’s a voice in Heaven saying, “This is my son whom I am pleased with.” After she had read that, she asked, “Hon! Why didn’t God get any color?”

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-letter Bible was published in the same year. According to The Oregonian newspaper 60,000 copies were sold quickly. Red-letter bibles have been widely published since then.

Scott Johnson thought he had learned something new about God’s Word and would soon be asleep. He woke up in middle of the night with an idea for a new way to emphasize key words in the Bible.

“I don’t know if God said it, an angel told my, or the Spirit, but I replied, ‘He does indeed have a colour. He will have one color starting now, and it’s Blue,” he said. “Why blue? “Why blue? That’s the first color that came to mind as I was falling asleep. It fits because the sky’s blue and Heaven is there.

He realized that the Holy Spirit should be highlighted in gold, to represent the fire associated with the Spirit. 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 owned a few copies before of the BRG Bible. He printed the copies on-demand as readers requested in 2013. However, the price of $40-50 per copy was prohibitive for widespread distribution.

The Johnsons also partnered with e-Sword Bible, which offered a digital copy of the BRG Bible free of charge. Bible Gateway, a Christian website and app, requested digital copies of the BRG Bible two years later.

People around the globe have downloaded more than 50 million BRG editions, including 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. The colors don’t bleed through the Bible pages, as you’ll see. Three colors were impossible before. However, Worldwide Printing, a printer, said that they could make it possible. Technology since the pandemic has also improved. Scott Johnson agreed. It took three years to complete the project.

BRG Bibles now use the King James Version of the Bible. Along with the blue words and names of God in blue and the gold Holy Spirit names in gold, messages from angels and other heavenly beings are underlined and prophecies of messianic events are underlined red. Scott said that those are the only differences; the words are unchanged.

First, the BRG edition had to be type-set. 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.

After that, the PDF version of the printable was sent to an editor in Nashville.

Scott and Jane began to search for a printer that could print 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. He said that they both wanted to do it but decided to go with Worldwide as they have a Dallas headquarters.

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, on December 28, 2000 copies of the KJV BRG Edition were shipped from Minsk.

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 in Kiev on February 20, were held up in customs for almost a month and then were shipped to El Dorado where they arrived Monday morning.

Scott Johnson observed that “Clean Harbors delivered a pallet to the East Faulkner Church at noon on the spring Equinox.” “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 pastors Scott Johnson has copies of the BRG Bible available for sale at $10 Johnson explained that Johnson can be reached at despite not being available 24/7. [email protected] Find out more about the BRG Edition.

Scott Johnson indicated that he thought the BRG Edition might be helpful for laymen to read the Bible.

He said, “I believe that’s exactly it does.” We know that the Bible is inspired and that the Spirit was involved in its creation, but it is important to note the specific sentences spoken by Christ in red. You now know that God the Father is speaking these words.

Johnson stated that the BRG edition may be helpful for other pastors to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Word.

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 has only printed the New Testament at the moment. 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 working together with the New International Version licenser (NIV), to also produce it in a digital BRG version, he explained.

He stated, “Since it was completed the first time, it has only grown.” “I think that this is a change in the Bible, but it’s not a modification of the Bible. It’s only a kindergarten effort. I just received two more Crayolas.