31 May
1700 A.D. Presbyterian
Alexander Cruden Born—Compiled Cruden’s Concordance.
Christianity.com tells it at: http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/birthdays/05-31.html
Alexander Cruden (1700 to 1771)
Presbyterian
Mentally Ill, but He Compiled a
Concordance.
Alexander Cruden was born at
Aberdeen, Scotland. He compiled the first complete concordance of the Bible. He
was raised a strict Presbyterian, but after a romantic disappointment, he
developed mental problems and was sometimes violent. He was placed in an
asylum. Released in 1722, he still suffered mental problems, and was not very
successful at business ventures. In 1736, he began to compile his concordance,
having had a hobby of tracing words through the Bible. Eighteen months later,
he published the work. He became obsessed with correcting people's sins,
especially swearing and sabbath-breaking, which led to his nickname
"Alexander the Corrector." He died suddenly in 1770 while praying.
But his concordance was so valuable a tool to ministers that Spurgeon claimed
that "half-crazy" Cruden had done more for Bible scholarship than the
scholars in the schools.
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