Confessing Evangelical

While we're on the subject of Bible editions (see previous post), Australian publication The Briefing has a fascinating critique of "red-letter Bibles" (i.e., where the words of Christ are printed in red). I've never liked red-letter Bibles - mainly because I dislike the implication that the rest of the Bible is not as much Christ's Word to us as the direct quotations from His earthly ministry - but what is really striking about this article is the statistics on comprehension levels.

The article quotes a study which shows that black text on a white background has an 89% comprehension level (that is, 89% of people in the study read such text with a fair or good level of comprehension). White text on a black background, by contrast, had a mere 12% comprehension level. And red text on a white background carries only a 19% comprehension level (the relevant table in the article mislabels this information, but the accompanying text makes the position clear). As the article concludes:

According to Wheldon's study, to print the words of Christ in red is to ensure that they will be poorly comprehended by 81% of readers! It is difficult indeed to see how this does him honour. To be sure, it makes his words stand out - it's just that it's almost impossible to read and remember them. I trust that little further needs to be said. Out of reverence for the Lord Jesus, we must put a stop to red-letter Bibles. They are rendering his words largely unreadable, thus affecting the spiritual well-being of who knows how many unsuspecting Bible readers. In the interests of Christ's words being read, we must ensure they cease being red.

Update: the original study, which is referenced in the Briefing article, can be found here: "Communicating? Or just making pretty shapes?" (PDF).