The Red-Letter Bible and the Doctrine of the Trinity

There’s something about those red letters in the Bible.

Musician David Crowder sings about them, “then I read the red letters…when I read the red letters…Thank You, God, for red letters.” Anne Wilson echoes, “Red letters coming off the page…”

In 1901, Louis Klopsch published The Holy Bible: The Red Letter Edition. In it, the words, “universally accepted as the utterances of our Lord and Saviour” were printed in red.(1) Other publishers soon noticed the commercial success and followed suit with their own versions. Originally in KJV only, publishers quickly incorporated other red-letter translations. Today, red letter editions are so common that it is almost noteworthy to find one that doesn’t have the words of Christ in red.

There’s something about those red letters for sure.

Where’s the problem?

It’s a nuanced problem, with perhaps troubling second and even third order effects.

It has influenced my preaching in years past. I’d preach, “Well, David says this, or Paul says this or Peter says that…but, but the words of Jesus affirm this vital truth,” or something to that effect. As if the words of Jesus as recorded in Scripture bear more weight than those of the other authors of Scripture.

Here’s the problem. Heretics love the red-letter editions of the Bible.

If I can somehow delineate or distinguish the words of Jesus as separate from or even above the other words of Scripture, then I can start to build doctrinal positions that affirm my heretical beliefs, maybe even affirm my sinful lifestyle.

For example, you’ve heard it said, “Well Jesus didn’t say anything about homosexuality,” in an effort to find biblical support for the practice, or at least defer biblical criticism. “It’s only those Old Testament verses in Leviticus that say anything about it.” Well, is this true? Did Jesus never address the issue? Sort of, depending upon what you mean.

Who wrote the Bible anyway?

We see the divine nature of Scripture in the doctrine of plenary inspiration.

Paul tells us that “all Scripture is God-breathed,” or “inspired by God”. (2 Timothy 3:16) At the time, prior to the canonization of the New Testament, this referred directly to the Old Testament. Today, we may safely apply it to the totality of Scripture, the Old and New Testament. Peter similarly writes, “no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:21) How could the authors have remembered all that they wrote, sometimes twenty or thirty years after the fact? Jesus promised the Apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit and He would “bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

The Bible is a supernatural book with both human authors and a Divine author, none other than the Holy Spirit of God, every jot and tittle of it. The words of Jesus. The words of Paul. The words of Moses, David, Luke, John, Amos, Daniel, Solomon (you get the point), all equally inspired. The Bible does not contain the word of God, it is the Word of God. This is the doctrine of plenary inspiration.

Divine Simplicity

Perhaps the least understood or discussed attribute of God is the attribute concerning His attributes, otherwise known as divine simplicity. God is simple, not simplistic, not elementary, but completely simple. He is His attributes. He does not possess love, He is love. (1 John 4:16) He does not possess holiness, He is holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16) God is light. God is life. God is righteousness. God is truth and so forth. “All that is in God is God.”(2)

As such, His simplicity is “the condition of being free from division into parts.”(3) God does not have parts. “God is not composite and is not susceptible of division in any sense of the word.”(4) God cannot be described as the composition of His attributes. This defines His essence, His very being. God is simple.

Simplicity and the Trinity

The patristic fathers appealed to simplicity to defend the Trinity, drawing a distinction between essence and persons.

God is three persons, existing as Father, Son, and Spirit differentiated only by their eternal relations of origin, that is paternity, filiation, and spiration. The Father, in paternity, is unbegotten. The Son is eternally generated (begotten) of the Father, known as filiation. The Spirit proceeds (spiration or eternal procession) forth from the Father and the Son. These eternal relations of origin describe the sole distinguishing characteristic of the members of the Godhead.

In divine simplicity, each person of the Godhead possesses a totality of the divine essence. In simplicity, what is true of the Father is true of the Son and the Spirit. Where the Father is, so therefore is the Son and the Spirit. They are of the same essence, with one single, unified will.

Simplicity and the Work of God

Since God is simple, we may safely say that every work of God is the one, singular and unified work of the Triune God.

Every member of the Godhead is equally responsible for every aspect of creation, providence, and redemption though we may just as safely describe specific aspects of God’s work as being appropriated by a specific member of the Godhead. Thus, we can describe the Triune work of salvation in fulfilling the Covenant of Redemption, the Pactum Salutis, as: God the Father chose (elected) those whom He would redeem, God the Son did the work of redemption on the cross, and God the Spirit applies the work of redemption to the hearts of His elect. These appropriations are consistent with the eternal relations of origin, but we must always stipulate the simplicity of God and the presence of the totality of His essence in every aspect of His work.

Simplicity and the Bible

Let’s return to our example.

Who wrote Leviticus 18:22, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination”? Likewise, who wrote Leviticus 20:13, “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act, they shall surely be put to death”? Well, Moses wrote these verses. From the doctrine of plenary inspiration, we know that the Holy Spirit wrote these verses through the mind, mouth, and hand of Moses. But are you ready for this?

Because of the doctrine of divine simplicity…Jesus wrote these verses. Color them red. To say that Jesus didn’t say anything about homosexuality is to deny the divine simplicity of the Triune God.

Likewise, who wrote 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God”? We know that Paul wrote this. Because of plenary inspiration, the Holy Spirit wrote it. Because of simplicity, Jesus wrote it.

We can safely apply the essence of the totality of the Godhead to all of Scripture. Color it all red, every last word of it. Let the heretics starve for material.

My favorite illustration of this is John chapter 3 whereby at some point, the words of Jesus and the words of John become indistinguishable. Where does Jesus stop talking, and John’s commentary start? Is it after verse 12? At verse 16? After verse 21? This is a beautiful illustration of plenary inspiration and divine simplicity in a single running monologue.

I liken the red letters to the chapter subtitles and even the verse and chapter numbers themselves, not inspired, not Scripture, added later by men to assist us in understanding Scripture. If we keep the red letters in this context, then we’re okay.

So, don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to burn your Crowder CD (not that anyone uses CD’s anymore). Keep listening to Way FM if you must. Don’t sell your red-letter Bible. I’m keeping mine for sure. I love it. Just know, and recognize, that which is of God and that which isn’t (like red letters).

We must first recognize and then vigorously oppose any idea or teaching that would seek to divide the word of God against itself.

References:

[1] Louis Klopsch, "Explanatory Note," in The Holy Bible: Red Letter Edition (New York: Christian Herald, 1901), p. xvi.

[2] Matthew Barrett, Simply Trinity (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2021), 137.

[3] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (1949; repr., Ontario: Devoted Publishing, 2020), 39.

[4] Ibid.