The First Complete Bible that Emphasized Jesus Christ with Rubrication 

      Rubrication emphasizes text, headings, or lines in a book with red ink.  While the concept was not new and was used throughout the Middle Ages in both manuscripts and print, this was the first time it was explicitly applied for enhanced comprehension of the person of Jesus Christ.  As a result, the printer, Louis Klopsch, made it simpler to distinguish and understand who Jesus was, what he said, and what he did.  Klopsch revealed Jesus on the New and Old Testament pages just the same, with red ink, truly transforming how Americans read their Bibles.  Klopsch's first printing was of the New Testament in 1899, and he completed the Old Testament in 1901.  In the New Testament, words spoken by Jesus were highlighted or accentuated in red print.  It begs to question, if the addition of rubrication in the NT applied to Jesus, what are the red letters in the OT?  In the Old Testament, "passages and incidents quoted or referred" to Jesus were printed in red, and "prophecy" references of Jesus are marked with a red star (★).  Likewise, the center column cross-references in red relate to Jesus Christ.  This OT enhancement made this Bible unique among red print editions, unlike any other.  As a result, the rubrication feature became extensively adopted in Bible publishing throughout the 20th century, yet Klopsch's OT red print went neglected. 

"This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you"

Luke 22:20

      Previously, translators debated whether dominical words should be italicized or encapsulated with quotation marks, and both have been done. However, neither technique is in the original texts.  Consequently, Klopsch, for the first time, used rubrication to emphasize dominical words that would make it visually stand out.  Klopsch was passionate about Bible distribution, and “he wanted people to read the Bible and understand it- particularly what it says about Jesus Christ.”  He writes, "Modern Christianity is striving zealously to draw nearer to the great Founder of the Faith.  Setting aside mere human doctrines and theories regarding Him, it presses close to the Divine Presence, to gather from His own lips the definition of His mission to the world and His own revelation of the Father.... The Red Letter Bible has been prepared and issued in the full conviction that it will meet the needs of the student, the worker, and the searchers after truth everywhere."  Klopsch further explained, writing...

"Here the actual words, quotations, references and allusions of Christ, not separated from their context, nor in a fragmentary or disconnected form, but in their own proper place, as an integral part of the Sacred Record, stand out vividly conspicuous in the distinction of color. …showing how frequently and how extensively, on the Authority of Christ himself, the authenticity of the Old Testament is confirmed, thus greatly facilitating comparison and verification, and enabling the student to trace the connection between the Old and the New, link by link, passage by passage.

 

…the central figure upon which all lines of law, history, poetry and prophecy converge is Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. He expounded in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself and the Divine plan for man’s redemption… emphasizes this Divine exposition [of Messiah] and personal revelation… making them so clear that even the simplest may understand.  It sheds a new radiance… by which the reader is enabled to trace unerringly the scarlet thread of prophecy."

It's here!

 

My new publishing of the Rubricated American Heritage Bible (RAHB) includes a historical background and facsimile reproduction of the first complete Holy Bible Red Letter Edition by Louis Klopsch.  Unlike the average Red-Letter Bible with words of Christ in red only in the New Testament, this Bible also emphasizes Jesus within the Old Testament with red letters.  

 

This “Rubricated American Heritage Bible (RAHB)” is a historical work that preserves the 1901 A.D. Bible that almost faded into history.  This book encapsulates the “Holy Bible: Red Letter Edition” by Louis Klopsch, the first complete Bible to emphasize Jesus Christ with rubrication.  The RAHB provides a historical background preface and a facsimile reproduction of this Bible.  Klopsch included the Old Testament rubrication in his Bible that emphasizes the Jewish Jesus and unveils the Messianic Christ.  This holds eschatological and Messianic Judaism importance.  In the New Testament, dominical words are rubricated to easily distinguish the Savior's character.

 

This Bible is a must-have companion to your Bible Study.  Reader and study intuitive features:

 

Old Testament:

• Passages and incidents quoted or referred to by Jesus are printed in red.
• Prophecy references of Jesus are marked with a red star (★).
• Center column cross-references in red relate to Jesus Christ.

New Testament:

• Words spoken by Jesus are emphasized in red letters.

 

This new Bible (RAHB) is in the process of going to print in two volumes hardback.  Once that is made available for purchase, I will post that on this webpage.  Meanwhile, enjoy the eBook version FREE below.  A tremendous amount of work and personal money went into the digital reproduction of this Bible, so if you can, please contribute here.  If you have difficulty seeing the Bible viewer below, you can go to it at Archive.org.  Updates have been made to the RAHB pdf as of May 8, 2023, so if you have downloaded a copy before that, I highly recommend getting the latest PDF download.  I hope to do an update video shortly.

Tools:

      Additionally, unlike many other self-pronouncing Bibles published, this Bible has extensive pronunciation marks (diacritics, e.g., ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪk) right in the text contributing to its proper linguistic enunciation, which is especially useful for applying proper English or teaching use.  What does all this, seemingly gibberish, mean?  Let's learn a bit about pronunciation; it will help us understand why this can be helpful.

      The Bible contains many words that are often unfamiliar to those not from the Mediterranean region or may not be aware of the Indo-European and Semitic roots, e.g., “Israel.”  Since the British Empire spread English far and wide through colonization, this language also became the common language In America.  Yet, with the diverse influx of many nationalities early on, there was the need to aid people with learning that common language.  Therefore, from the turn of the century and up to 1963, many schools used the Bible for learning proper English pronunciation.  This Bible carried that on with integrating self-pronouncing words by using extensive diacritics, e.g., ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪk or dī′ə-krĭt′ĭk right in the lines of text.  So as one reads, one can adequately pronounce words that may otherwise be unfamiliar.  In addition, these symbols help learn where to place syllable stress (emphasis) within a word.  This tool is especially useful for those teaching or learning English as a second language (ESL). 

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