A BRIEF HISTORY AND TESTIMONY OF JAY P. GREEN, SR.
FOUNDER OF SOVEREIGN GRACE PUBLISHERS, INC.
As you may have noted, the Lord has marked me as a sort of pioneer. None of the things that SGP has done could have been done without the blessings of the Lord and his leading of many Christian brothers and sisters to lend a helping hand financially or volunteer work. When I was suddenly made alive in Christ Jesus in 1949, my past was dissolute. In no way was I prepared to do Christian work. Yet being moved to read the Bible through and through, and being put under the tutelage of a sound, godly preacher who introduced me to the Puritans, and then being accepted as a student-by-mail by A. W. Pink, all this within 2 years of my conversion at age 30, my first effort was to put out a bi-monthly magazine (I trust this is not presuming on your time too much), in which I reprinted Puritan works, and Pink’s works by his permission.
In 1955 the Lord moved me to start reprinting Puritan works (Prayer, Bunyan; Keeping the Heart, Flavel). At that time the U.S.A. had very little access to Puritan works. This accelerated quickly.
In 1957 I suggested to Iain Murray that he do the same thing in England. He established the Banner of Truth Trust, aided by Dr. Lloyd-Jones. I shared the printing of Alleine’s Alarm (which we had newly typeset) with them, and I also loaned them some negatives for another title. Immediately, upon their starting, we promoted their books and sold a great many of them.
This new emphasis on the Classics caused me to sell two titles to Baker Book House. They became interested and eventually printed 40 of so of the titles in mass paperback, and sold more than a half-million copies before dropping them.
My own publishing was hampered by lack of funds, but from time to time others helped. Our first cloth back was Haldane on Romans, but we had to print only a third of it at a time, then later another third, etc. Then eventually we did it in 2 vols., and finally got it into one volume. We did the same with The Saints’ Everlasting Rest. Altogether we published over 150 titles between 1955 and 1973, several editions of some of the titles.
Until 1959 I was secularly employed, selling typewriters. I worked 40 hours for Remington, then put in 40 hours or more on the fledgling publishing effort. By 1959 I was only having to work 20 hours to keep my sales up, and spent 60 hours on publishing. When I resigned, my boss begged me to continue, and said that it would be all right to work only 20 hours a week.
The occasion for leaving secular work was the call for me to put out The Children’s King James New Testament.
This was started because my second child kept asking me as I nightly read the King James Version Bible to my children, "Daddy, What means that?" (She was 4 years of age). So I continued reading the King James Version to my children while removing the Elizabethan English difficulties. When she first began to read, she immediately challenged me, saying, "Daddy, if that is what it means, then why doesn’t they put out the Bible that way." So for my children I did put out the Book of Acts that way. So the Modern King James is a word for word translation from the King James Version with the thees, thous, and other Elizabethan English replaced with modern English words.
It escalated and in 1960, the Lord caused Harper Publishing (NY) to become interested in the Children’s King James New Testament. We sold the publishing rights to Harper. They contracted me to do the Children’s Old Testament, a Teen-Age Version, and The Modern King James Version.
Harper thereafter merged with Peterson-Row, and some projects had to be dropped. They jettisoned the Bibles, though all three titles were already being typeset. After six weeks of negotiation, I sold McGraw-Hill the rights, and they published all three titles in 1962. But my wife became so seriously ill that I no longer could travel to market the Bibles to bookstores. The largely Roman Catholic salesmen for McGraw simply refused to sell them, so McGraw-Hill donated some 50,000 of them to Family Radio.
Ever since 1963 Family Radio has read The Modern King James Version over the air on their radio stations (31 of them) daily.
In 1963 (if this wearies you, I am sorry, but it seems that you may be interested in the nurture of the saints in the same way that I am), we attempted to publish the first Biblically sound, Reformed, Encyclopedia of Christianity. Remember, I did not have any funds for such a huge project, but by this and that lift at the right time, we managed to publish the first volume in 1964. It was praised by those who read it. Naturally it was my thought that all these scholars would then recommend the work to their students. They simply refused to do it, saying, Yes, it is very well done, and it will be a great thing when it is completed, but I can’t recommend that my students buy it until the set is complete. Yet we struggled and got out Vol. II in 1968, and again Volumes III and IV in 1971, 72. Still it seems the people who needed or desired these most would not buy them, waiting for completion. After having lost over $100,000.00 on the project, we had to stop. But, God willing, we will do it again.
From The Encyclopedia of Christianity, in 1973 I selected the Bible dictionary items from the first 4 volumes (A thru G), then the best articles from other dictionaries, and my daughter typeset the 1116 pages of it. Yet having no money to print it, set it aside until 1988 when we did manage to publish it as The Classic Bible Dictionary, the first truly Reformed dictionary for 100 years (Fausset’s was the last). It sold out quickly.
We finally managed to print it in 1988.
In 1964, being at home to take care of my sick wife, and 3 children, and the Sovereign Grace books insufficient to support us, I started The Religious Book Discount House, which was the first nation-wide, comprehensive religious book discount operation at that time. This accelerated very quickly, and between 1964 and 1973 we established 14 religious book supermarkets, with shelves filled with books, thousands of feet of Christian books. We put two semi-trailers on the road, outfitted as air-conditioned bookstores and visited campuses around the nation.
Our sales in 1972 reached 3 million dollars. But the margins were thin, of course. It was at that time I selected the articles and content for the Classic Bible Dictionary.
In 1970 we published the King James II Bible, and altogether sold 250,000 of them. This was an updating of the Modern King James Version, again working from the King James Version English.
It was in 1975 that He moved me to undertake the Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible. This was prompted after being approached by a number of Chrsitans asking me why the Modern King James and the King James II didn't correct the errors in the KJV. I asked what errors upon which they pointed some out to me. It became obvious that to enable a more correct translation, I would have to work directly from the Greek and Hebrew. To accomodate this, I went back to school to learn Greek and Hebrew and engaged the efforts of Dr. Maurice Robinson, a world renown Biblical Lanaguage scholar to assit me. If was while attempting to work with the Greek and Hebrew Lexicons and concordances, that I came to recognize the difficulty in locating the Greek and Hebrew words within the reference books, It was especially difficult with the Hebrew whewre the root of the word is frrequently found in the middle of the word. It was at this time we decided that what was need was to place Strong's Concrodance numbers alongside the reference work entries to enable us to more quickly reference the needed Greek or Hebrew word.
We then proceeded to build the first ever complete Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible. We pre-sold the whole set for $15.00 in order to raise the funds to do the work (which was built by pasting individual Hebrew and Greek lines on a page, and then making a photo copy of the pasted up pages, and then typing the English words underneath the Greek or Hebrew words. In the side column we assembled the sentences from the Interlinear in correct English order which was the beginning of the Literal Translation of the Bible.
In 1977 we produced Volume I. Response was large, and immediate. In 1979, Vol. II, 1980 Vol. III, and 1981 Vol. IV, and also the One-Volume edition appeared. We delivered over 4,000 sets, and a like number of the One Volume copies, but really at a loss. After four years of upgrading these volumes, and having to sell them by mail, in 1985 we contracted with Hendrickson on a royalty basis. This gave us a steady income which we could use to produce other titles: The Literal Translation of the Bible, and were the first to add Strong's number to other reference works other Strong's Concordance & Dictionary. We added Strong's numbers to The New Brown-Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, New Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, New Englishman’s Greek Concordance and Lexicon, New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance, The Concise Lexicon to the Biblical Languages (first time ever for a lexicon to have both the Greek and Hebrew words).
In 1988 CLW was started, the only in-depth review magazine (outside the scholarly journals which did not have a wide distribution).
In 1988 also we initiated The Fifty Greatest Classics Series, and so far have done five volumes. Classics on the Trinity is still awaiting funds from the Lord.
In 1990 the Modern King James Version was published again, a revision in 1993 and again in 1999. In 1990 the Unholy Hands Series began. Telling the truth about Textual Criticism in the public arena had just about ceased.
In 1992 the second volume appeared. The scholar who was supposed to do the third volume became ill and was unable to finish it. So I decided to write the third volume myself. We also have Dr. Pickering’s revised The Identity of the New Testament Text due out yet this year.
In 1992 we printed our first four years of CLW book reviews in a paperback book.
In 1993 we also published the LITV in the ONLINE Computer Bible, and also a bonded leather edition. Since then we have published The Gnostics, The New Versions, and The Deity of Christ, and have revised the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament.
To hurry on, please allow me to list the unique projects with which the Lord has blessed me: The first Interlinear Bible ever accomplished. The first literal translation of the Bible since Young’s in the last century. The first Reformed encyclopedia ever attempted, with four volumes done. God willing, we will print these in two volumes, and complete the set in three more volumes.
The first world-wide religious book discount operation, the forerunner of today’s discounters.
The first to put Strong’s numbers into the Bible, the concordances, and the lexicons to the biblical languages.
The first to publish large numbers of titles of the Puritan writers in the U.S.A..in this century.
The first to publish in-depth reviews in a review magazine, over 200 titles a year, over 1,200 to date.
The first to number all the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words in the Bible itself, which is the basis for all of the computer bibles now available, making it possible to quickly access the Scriptures, and study aids easily, quickly.
The first lexicon which has both Hebrew and Greek entries, with grammatical helps, etc.
Forgive me if I have been presumptuous in laying all this out to you. Never before have I put it all together in a list as above, and it is not my intention to commend myself, but to always wait to allow the Lord to issue whatever He might consider worthy of commendation (2 Cor. 10:17, 18). If I glory, it in the Cross of Christ that I glory, that He might be magnified.
Now and again He has some dear soul send an encouraging letter, and I know that there has been some good done by something He has enabled me to do.
Dear brother and sister, you can see the kind of work that our precious Lord has given to me, a person you would have said was an unlikely choice if you had known my background.
A dedicated plugger on behalf of the saints, but a poor financial manager with it all. As you will sense, these are huge projects, costly, time and energy consuming. Along the way there are individuals who have helped us with prayers and finances. Much of the financing has come from pre-selling what we are working on, and people have had to wait as long as 5 years on the Interlinear volumes. Yet few have ever complained, for which I thank the Lord fervently.
These days we have about eight beloved saints who have taken part in financing our projects, several had to drop out, but others have taken their place, each time rolling over their money into a new project. This has been a tremendous help. Really, there are advantages in working hand to mouth, so to speak, for it forces one to lean upon the breast of the Lord day by day.
One learns to pray, and to exercise faith according to the Scriptures. Presently, I am working on the revision of the Interlinear Old Testament volumes. Then this past month I have been putting the final touches on Classics on the Trinity. It is a tremendous collection, one that it is hoped will be around through re-printings until the Lord Jesus comes to gather up His elect saints.
In closing, I am now asking for your prayers and help in continuing this ministry.
Jay P. Green, Sr.,
December 1, 1918 - May 20, 2008
He finsihed the KJ3 Bible two weeks before going home to Our Lord and Saviour
at which time he stated it is finished.
Your basket is empty.
