Pages

▼

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Today In Church History


Happy Birthday Alexander Cruden
(May 31, 1699 - November 1, 1770)

Alexander Cruden's place in Church history is his contribution to Bible scholarship. A Bible concordance is a dictionary that lists the words that appear in the Bible and shows in what verses they can be found. When you consider how long the Bible is, you can easily see how useful such a dictionary must be.

The best concordance of Cruden's day listed the words with the verse numbers under them. As many as five hundred men had worked at preparing it. Cruden saw that he could make a much more useful version. Working all alone with scarcely a break for eighteen months, he wrote a new concordance. His great innovation was to quote a bit of verse around each word.

The first edition did not sell well. Cruden became depressed. Later editions of the concordance did much better. The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon said that the concordance was as necessary to a preacher "as a plane to the carpenter, or a plough to the husbandman."

Cruden died at 71. He was found kneeling by his bed with a Bible open in front of him.

Do any of you use a Cruden’s Concordance?
Is so, is your version software or the good ole book form?

When I was in Bible College, the joke was:

Strong’s (Concordance) for the strong…
Young’s (Concordance) for the young…
Cruden’s (Concordance) for the crude…
at

8 comments:

  1. Lynn ProctorMay 31, 2012 at 9:34 AM

    i would like to see this--thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. kc bobMay 31, 2012 at 10:27 AM

    Brings back memories Doug. Let my paper concordances go (along with my Greek Interlinear, commentaries and the such) a few years ago when we downsized. Have not missed them. Most everything I seem to need is either on the net or in some other electronic form.

    ReplyDelete
  3. kc bobMay 31, 2012 at 10:27 AM

    Doug?? Sorry Gregg!! Must have been a senior moment??

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 31, 2012 at 11:09 AM

    I had not heard of Alexander Cruden. I have always used Young's Concordance. No particular reason. Its just what I use. But thanks for introducing me to Alexander Cruden.

    ReplyDelete
  5. PersisMay 31, 2012 at 12:20 PM

    I have a Young's and Strong's but have heard of Cruden's. It's pretty amazing that these brothers wrote these concordances without the aid of modern technology.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Derrick BoydMay 31, 2012 at 6:40 PM

    This is the first time I have heard of him as well. Interesting story.

    Encouraging Thoughts for Life

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 31, 2012 at 9:50 PM

    That's funny Gregg - I remember that little saying (you can tell we've got the same background. lol). I didn't realize Cruden lived so long ago though.

    ReplyDelete
  8. RHYTHM AND RHYMEMay 31, 2012 at 10:03 PM

    Interesting thoughts of life,

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are always welcome on the Gospel Driven Disciples Blog. If you have been blessed by your visits here please consider praying for me and this blog and check in regularly. Please be advised I do not "auto-follow"; blogs that become a follower of this blog.

If you have a question about anything I have posted, suggested, included, or placed on my site; I will be more than happy to correspond with you by email

The purpose of this site is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for His glory and your good!

THANK YOU, - Gregg Metcalf
gmetcalf73@gmail.com

Colossians 1:28-29

Gregg Metcalf has served as the Teaching Pastor of Surprise Valley Baptist Church (Cedarville, CA) and the Mirror Lake Baptist Church (Federal Way, WA.) He graduated from Shasta Bible College in 1989. Gregg is married to Irene and the Lord has blessed them with four daughters and six grandchildren, with a great grandchild on the way. Gregg invites your comments and interaction concerning his posts and this blog! Gregg enjoys reading, boating, song-poem writing, and his family.