[Globals] AutoInstall=./newmods/ [Websters] DataPath=./modules/texts/rawtext/websters/ ModDrv=RawText Description=The Webster Bible About= -=+* see the files 'intro.txt' and 'revision.txt' for more details *+=-\par\par \ \qc THE \par HOLY BIBLE, \par CONTAINING THE \par OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, \par IN THE \par \ COMMON VERSION. \par WITH \par AMENDMENTS OF THE LANGUAGE, \par \ BY NOAH WEBSTER, LL. D. \par\par ------------- \par NEW HAVEN: \par \ PUBLISHED BY DURRIE & PECK. \par \ Sold by HEZEKIAH HOWE & CO., and A. H. MALTBY, New Haven; \par \ and by N.&J. WHITE, New York. \par\par ------ \par 1833 \par\par \ Webster Bible Electronic Format.\par \ PUBLIC DOMAIN\par\par \ February 1992\par\par\pard \ Webster Biography:\par \ Noah Webster: America's first grammarian and founding father of American education.\par\par \ In 1828 Noah Webster published the 'American Dictionary of the English Language'. This \ dictionary demonstrates the Christian values which were found in America's educational \ and scholarly systems. It is from this early dictionary that we have todays popular \ 'Webster Dictionary'. In 1833 Noah Webster, who had mastered 20 languages including \ Hebrew and Greek, published the King James Authorized Version 'with amendments to the \ language'. In stating his reasons for producing this version of the Bible, Webster said:\par\par \ 'In the present version, the language is, in general, correct and perspicuous; \ ... in many passages uniting sublimity with beautiful simplicity. In my view, the general \ style of the version ought not to be altered. But, in the lapse of two or three centuries, \ changes have taken place, which, in particular passages, impair the beauty; in others, \ obscure the sense, of the original languages. ... they do not present to the reader \ the Word of God. ... My principal aim is to remedy this evil.'\par\par \ It was with cautious reverence that Webster corrected misused grammar, removed offensive \ terms and expressions, and substituted commonly understood words for words that had fallen \ into disuse, or no longer carried the same meaning.\par\par\ In 1834, the year after completing the Webster Bible, Noah Webster wrote a \ companion piece titled 'Value of the Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion - For \ the Use of Families and Schools'.\par\par\ Webster, who was considered 'The schoolmaster to a nation' and produced the \ earliest spellers and textbooks for America's school children, believed Christian religious \ values and American public education to be inseparable. He believed the Webster Bible to \ be 'the most important enterprise' of his life, and referred to the Bible as:\par\par \ '... the chief moral cause of all that is good, and the best corrector of all that \ is evil, in human society; the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men, and \ the only book that can serve as an infallible guide to future felicity.'\par\par \ Introduction to the Electronic Format:\par \ Beginning in July of 1991 the task of placing the Webster Bible text in electronic \ format began. The original purpose was to provide Larry Pierce, who produces the \ On-Line Bible program, with a more modern *public domain* text, similar in content and \ style to the AV but with a grammar that would provide better comprehension in todays \ English.\par\par\ I plan on maintaining an accurate copy of the Webster text. Anyone finding an \ error should contact me; Anyone desiring to obtain the latest, most correct text, can find \ it on the Bible Foundation BBS, or can contact me in the following methods:\par \ Internet acus10@waccvm.corp.mot.com\par \ Home phone 602-829-8542\par \ Address Mark Fuller\par \ 1129 East Loyola Drive\par \ Tempe Arizona, 85282\par \ Bible Foundation http://www.bf.org\par\par \ I would like to thank the Bible Foundation not only for scanning nearly the entire \ Webster Bible but for encouraging me to undertake this monumental work; particularly around \ page 20 when I realized what I had gotten myself into. Special thanks to Jerry Kingery of \ the Bible Foundation for scanning, and Jerry Hastings for doing some preliminary scan \ cleaning and making the texts available on the BBS.