My Old Friend Noah Webster

Common Sense Commentary:

I was first introduced to Noah Webster in the 1930's by my third grade teacher. I don't remember if it was my first year in third grade or my second year in the same grade. I think it was the second teacher because she taught me enough to pass me along to the fourth grade teacher.  That was 1939 or 40 just as Noah was copy writing his New International dictionary, second edition. I was so impressed with a man who knew all the words in the English language.... and exactly what they meant, that I have consulted him thousands of times since then. Webster has been a friend of mine for 73 years now. He never avoided the truth even on spiritual issues, unlike some of the newcomers in the field of word mastery. If the question was God, capitalized, he confessed it meant, "The Supreme Being; the eternal and infinite Spirit, Creator and Sovereign of the universe." (All caps by Webster).  If the question was Jesus, Old Noah Webster made his definition clear, "The Son of Mary, the source of the Christian religion and Saviour in the Christian faith." If the question was the Bible, Webster declared, "The book made up of writings accepted by Christians as inspired by God and of divine authority." If the subject was Satan, Webster opined, "In Christian theology, the great adversary of man; the Devil."  When defining Creation, Webster said, "The act of causing to exist, or fact of being brought into existence, by divine power, especially, the act of bringing this world into existence out of nothing." Under
"Salvation", he wrote, "The saving of man from the spiritual consequences of; especially deliverance from sin and eternal damnation through the atonement of Christ; redemption."

From these definitions, of dear old Noah Webster, you can easily see why I call him my friend. He was a man after my own heart. I still use his 1953 updated version of his 1916 copyrighted original.  So the justifiable conclusion you might draw from this diatribe is, "Leave my friend Noah Webster alone." I don't need or want a young whippersnapper Dictionary, full of educated ignorance, to take Webster's place. In my mind that would be like someone sneaking a Nancy Palosi in to replace my wife or a Jesse Jackson to replace my deceased friend Jim Pound. It just doesn't work. There are no convincing replacements for such people. RB