The Clear Word: Clear, But Far from Pure

Paraphrasing is not
a license to embellish.

(A review of The Clear Word, by Jack J. Blanco, Copyright © 2003 by Review and Herald® Publishing Association)

          I am not sure what disturbs me more:  that the paraphrase-commentary hybrid known as The Clear Word could be created by a former dean of a Seventh-day Adventist university, or that Seventh-Day Adventists would welcome it, promote it, and distribute it.  Jack J. Blanco’s The Clear Word is one of the most corrupt forms of the English Bible being sold today.  Its author has smuggled thousands of man-made additions into the Biblical text.

          I have little doubt that the author’s intentions to create a “devotional paraphrase expanded for clarity” were noble.  This review is not intended as an evaluation of intentions, but of results.  The author of The Clear Word has essentially squeezed and molded Scripture into the shape of the teachings of Seventh-Day Adventism.

          Several authors have already reviewed some of the renderings in The Clear Word that have a distinctly Adventist doctrinal spin.  For example, at the CARM website, one can find explanations of how the Scriptural text has been manipulated and changed in The Clear Word so as to support annihilationism, and the belief that Jesus and the archangel Michael are identical (Revelation 12:7b:  “God’s Son Michael and the loyal angels fought against the dragon and his angels.”), and other unusual beliefs.

More examinations of The Clear Word
are at the CARM website.
(This is not an endorsement.)

          Even if all of those doctrinally driven anomalies were corrected, The Clear Word would still be useless for anyone who wants to know what the Bible says, because The Clear Word is full of commentary-material that has been blended into the text.  It is not as if commentary-material is in a side-bar, or in footnotes, as is the case with various Study Bibles.  The commentary-material is blended directly into the text.  This unfortunate trait contaminates every page of The Clear Word.  I will supply some samples from Genesis and the Gospels.  Comparisons of these passages to translations such as the KJV, NKJV, HCSB, ESV, or NASB will illustrate the same thing:  The Clear Word is saturated with man-made insertions.  In the following six quotations from Genesis in The Clear Word, passages that are neither translation, nor paraphrase, but simply insertions, are highlighted and are in bold print:   

(1)  Genesis 3:6:  “As Eve watched the serpent eat the delicious fruit, she suddenly felt a strong urge to taste it too.  She reached out and touched the fruit and nothing happened.  Then she picked it, took a bite and instantly felt a surge of energy.  Excited, she took more fruit and ran to find her husband.  When Adam saw her, he sensed what she had done.  But in the blush of her excitement, she looked more beautiful than ever.  He couldn’t bear the thought of living without her, so he took the fruit and ate it also.”

(2)  Genesis 3:21:  (KJV:  “Unto Adam and also to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”)  “But God didn’t carry out their sentence that day.  He told them He had a plan to save them.  Adam must sacrifice a lamb as a symbol of the One who would come and die in their place.  God then took the lamb’s skin to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness.”

(3)  Genesis 6:8:  (KJV:  “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”)  “So gradually the Lord laid to rest all those who loved Him, except Noah and his family.  Finally, they were the only ones left alive who found grace in God’s sight because they obeyed the Lord and did what was right.”

(4)  Genesis 19:26a:  “Lot’s wife, who had begged to live in Sodom, looked back.”   The phrase, “who had begged to live in Sodom,” is not a paraphrase of anything.   It is simply an insertion. 

(5)  Genesis 22:9:  (KJV:  “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.”)  “Finally they reached the top.  Together they found some stones, arranged them to build an altar and put the wood on top.  Then Abraham told Isaac what God had said.  Though sad, Isaac saw it as a privilege to give up his life for God while he was young.  He let Abraham tie his hands, then he willingly lay down on the altar.”  The two highlighted sentences are fabricated, and the sense of the final sentence is significantly altered.

(6)  Genesis 25:34:  (KJV:  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way:  thus Esau despised his birthright.”)  “Then Jacob gave him as many lentils as he could eat, and Esau ate and drank until he was full.  Without even thinking about what he had just given away, Esau said good-bye and left.  But Jacob had run ahead of God’s providence, just as Abraham had in fathering Ishmael.”  The final sentence has no foundation in the Hebrew text; it is commentary-material.

Many more could be listed.  Let’s turn to the New Testament and look at some of the insertions in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John. 

Mark 1:13:  (KJV:  “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.”)  “He was there for forty days surrounded by wild animals.  He was severely tempted by the devil to use His divine powers to feed Himself.  When it was all over, He was so exhausted that angels from heaven had to come to revive His dying body.”  Wherever Jack J. Blanco got that part about the angels having to “come and revive His dying body,” it was not from the Greek text of the Gospel of Mark. 

Mark 1:45:  (KJV:  “But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places:  and they came to him from every quarter.”)  “But the man didn’t listen.  He thought that Jesus was just being modest, so he told everyone he met how Jesus had healed him.  This greatly upset the priests, especially since the man hadn’t yet carried out the prescribed ritual.  So Jesus decided to leave town, because He knew He would attract other lepers and be accused of breaking down the restrictions of the ritual law.  He decided to carry on His ministry in a more isolated area, but before long people found Him and once again huge crowds came to see Him.”  Some of the imprecision in this verse could be regarded as paraphrasing – but about half of it has no basis in the Greek text.  

Mark 2:14b:  “Matthew got up, asked his assistant to take over and followed Jesus.”

Mark 2:28:  “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.  I know what’s right to do on the Sabbath and what isn’t.”

Mark 3:12:  “Jesus commanded the spirits to stop shouting because this could bring on a public disturbance if the people began to argue over who He was instead of listening to what He had to say.”

Mark 4:39a:  “Jesus, knowing that the demons were causing the fierce wind, stood and said to the storm, “Peace, be still.””

Mark 6:22b:  “Having had too much to drink, Herod said to the girl, “Ask for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.””

Mark 8:33:  “Jesus then turned to His disciples and rebuked the Satanic influence around them, saying, “Get behind Me Satan!”  Looking straight at Peter, He said, “You’re only thinking about what’s important to man, not what’s important to God.”

Mark 11:7:  “They led the donkey to the top of the Mount of Olives.  Suddenly they realized that what Jesus was about to do had for centuries been a symbolic act of kings prior to their coronation.  Joyfully, they took off their robes and laid them on the young animal.  Jesus then mounted the donkey, and the disciples led Him into Jerusalem.”

Mark 11:14:  “Jesus said to the tree, “Never again will you deceive people with your pretense.”  The disciples wondered why He would speak that way to a tree, but later they understood that it was a symbol of Israel.”

Mark 12:7:  “What was God telling Moses?  He was telling him that He was the One who activated Sarah’s dead womb, giving through Abraham life to Isaac who, in turn, gave life to Jacob.  Therefore, God is not the end of life but the Giver of life!  So your idea that there is no life after death is wrong.”  (For comparison:  Mark 12:27 in the KJV:  “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; ye therefore do greatly err.”)

 

Mark 14:23-24:  “Then He took the cup of unfermented wine, gave thanks and passed it to the disciples to drink from, which they each did.  Jesus said, “The pure juice which you just drank represents my blood that I will shed for the sins of the world.  This will fulfill the covenant my Father and I made from the beginning.”

Mark 14:28:  “But I will always love you.  When I rise again, I’ll meet you by the lake of Galilee where we had such good times together.”

Mark 14:72b:  “Ashamed of what he had just done, Peter hurriedly left the courtyard, ran all the way back to Gethsemane and wept bitterly.”

Now let’s turn to the Gospel of John.

John 2:4-5:  “Jesus answered, “Mother, I love you, but why are you asking me to help them?  I can’t work a miracle unless my Father tells me it is time to do it.”  Mary understood His hesitation but turned to the waiters and said, “Whatever my Son tells you to do, do it.”  (For comparison, here’s John 2:4-5 in the KJV:  “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?  Mine hour is not yet come.  His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”)

John 3:14:  “The miracle of the new birth was taught by Moses when he put a brass serpent on a makeshift cross and held it up for people to look at.  All those bitten by snakes who looked at it in faith were healed.  That power didn’t come from the cross Moses made, but from the Son of God who would come and die on a cross.  He will soon be lifted up between heaven and earth for all to see,”.  (For comparison, here’s John 3:14 in the KJV:  “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”)

Now we come to John chapter 8.  The embellishments of this passage are particularly strange.

 

John 8:1-4:  “Toward the end of the day Jesus left the Temple and went out of the city to the top of a hill called the Mount of Olives to spend some time in prayer.  The following morning, He went back to the Temple and sat down in the courtyard to teach, even though the week-long festival was over.  Soon a crowd gathered around Him to listen to what He had to say.  While He was teaching, the Scribes and Pharisees dragged in a prostitute whom they had tricked into adultery so they could use her to confront Jesus.  They pushed her toward Him and said,” ….

Jumping ahead to John 8:8:

“Then He leaned forward and started writing again.  This time the leaders looked at what He was doing and saw traced before them their own secret sins and their part in trapping the woman.”

Now, there is a sub-branch of the text of the Gospel of John that contains a reading in this verse to the effect that the religious teachers saw their sins written in the earth.  But there is nothing in the Greek text of John 8:3 that says that the scribes and Pharisees had tricked the woman into committing adultery, and there is nothing that says that they saw, written down, anything about their part in trapping the woman.  All those details are entirely made-up. 

Further along, in chapter 11, The Clear Word adds another made-up detail:

John 11:2:  “His sister Mary was the one who had been caught in adultery, whom the Pharisees wanted to stone but whom Jesus forgave.  She was also the one who later anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume and wiped His feet with her hair shortly before His death.”  I emphasize:  this new claim that Mary of Bethany was the woman caught in adultery does not come from anywhere in the Greek text of John 11:2.

Extra details continue to pop up in the text of The Clear Word:

John 12:8:  “You will have plenty of opportunities to feed the poor, but I’m only here once.  After what I’ve been through, it’s refreshing to be appreciated.”

John 13:6-8a in The Clear Word contains some insertions and substitutions, too: 

“When He came to Peter, Peter said, “Lord, you’re the Son of God!  You’re not going to lower yourself by washing my feet!”  Jesus looked at him and said, “Right now you don’t understand why I’m doing this, but after I’m gone, you will.”  Peter said, “I am not letting my God wash my feet!”  This frivolous imprecision risks misleading readers:  some are likely to rely on this passage to prove that the Bible teaches the deity of Christ, only to be shown that the words “my God” do not belong in the text.

A little further on in The Clear Word, John 13:10 looks like this:  “Jesus said, “When a person has had a bath, he only needs to rinse the dust off his feet.  If a man has been born again and baptized, he doesn’t have to be baptized all over again each time he does something wrong.  All of you are clean, except one.””  An entire sentence, attributed to Jesus, appears out of the blue.

          These examples are not exceptional.  Similar insertions appear throughout The Clear Word.  In addition, parallel-passages are frequently altered, removing difficulties at the expense of effectively erasing the text written by the inspired authors.  In The Clear Word, Mark mentions both Gadarene demoniacs, and both blind men at Jericho (not just Bartimaeus) – whereas in the original text of the Gospel of Mark, Mark simply does not do so.  Acts 1:17-18 is barely recognizable in The Clear Word.  This sort of alteration does indeed result in a clear text, but not a pure one.
         

           Without all the baseless embellishments, The Clear Word could be a lucid paraphrase of the same base-text upon which the KJV is based.  Unfortunately, Jack Blanco has created an adulteration, a hybrid that is partly the Word of God, and partly his own ideas (mostly based on the teachings of Ellen G. White), blended together without distinction.  For Christians who want their Bibles to be undiluted, this completely disqualifies The Clear Word from being used for any purpose, except as an example of how translation should not be done.  I encourage the Review and Herald Publishing Association to stop printing it, and I encourage Adventist Bible Centers to stop distributing it. 

The Message: Is It a Reliable Bible? Is It a Bible at All?

          The Bible is defined in different ways by different denominations.  In the fellowship of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, the Bible is generally defined as a collection of 66 books which were produced by individuals operating under the special inspiration of God so that the resultant texts were exactly what God wanted them to be.  The Bible is considered the church’s authoritative standard for faith and practice. 

          For most Christians, however, when the Bible is consulted and studied, the text being read is a translation that was designed to convey the meaning of the inspired Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts; the proportion of Christians who interact daily with Biblical texts in their original languages is relatively low. 

          It is practical to emphasize the meaning of the inspired text:  the use of a translation allows those who do not know Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to know and apply the message which those ancient texts convey.  The translation of the Bible into many languages has greatly advanced the spread of the gospel.  But with the benefit comes a risk:  the risk that if the base-text – the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text – is not compiled correctly, and is not translated correctly, then the result will not convey the message that was conveyed by the original text, and that where a translation contains shortcomings, its users will not possess the Word of God. 

Most of the Bible in Contemporary English,
blended with Eugene Peterson's
comments and interpretations.

          No English translation perfectly conveys the full sense of every nuance of every word and phrase in the original text, but several English versions are sufficient for the needs of most readers.  The Message, however, is so inaccurate that it does not deserve to be considered a Bible.  To see why this is the case, let’s compare the Greek base-text of the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew to The Message.  (In the following comparison, the text of The Message is from The Message:  Remix:  The Bible in Contemporary Language, Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson.  All rights reserved.)    

10:1a – “The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered.” – This sentence has no parallel in the Greek text. 

10:1b – “and sent them out into the ripe fields” – This phrase has no parallel in the Greek text.

10:1c – “and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.” – This is not a translation, but rather a replacement of what Matthew wrote, stating that the disciples were given power to heal every disease and every sickness.  The emphasis on healing in the original text has been obscured.

10:5a – “harvest hands” – This term has no parallel in the Greek text.

10:5b – “Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers.” – Jesus’ words did not pertain to distance; instead, He told His disciples on this occasion not to preach to the Gentiles – εις οδον εθνων μη απέλθητε:  into the nations’ way do not go. 

10:5c – “And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy.” – This is simply not what Jesus said.  He told them not to enter into any city of the Samaritans – και εις πόλιν Σαμαριτων μη εισέλθητε.  This is a very simple sentence.  The prohibitions against being dramatic and against tackling “some public enemy” were made up by Peterson out of thin air.

10:6 – “Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood.” – What Jesus said was, “But go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  The distinction that Jesus drew on this occasion was pretty simple:  minister to those in need among fellow-Jews, not to Gentiles and Samaritans.  This is not a difficult concept to understand; nor is the sentence difficult to translate accurately – but instead of doing so, Peterson replaced the specific reference to “the house of Israel” to the vague and inaccurate, “right here in the neighborhood,” as if Jesus was referring to a place rather than an ethnic group.

10:8 – “Touch the untouchables.” – The base-text says, “Cleanse lepers” (λεπρους καθαρίζετε).  This is not a command to touch; it is a command to heal; it is about applying divine power, not human pity.  

10:9a – “Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.” – This resembles the original text only to the extent that they both are about not acquiring money.  Jesus’ words are considerably different:  “Do not acquire gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts.”  There is nothing in The Message to correspond specifically to gold, or to silver, or to copper, or to belts.

10:9b, e – “You don’t need a lot of equipment” and, at the end of the verse, “Travel light.” – Jesus’ instructions were not this vague.  He specified that the disciples were not to take along a knapsack for the road, nor two shirts, nor sandals, nor a staff (or, in the Byzantine Text, staffs).  The Message’s paraphrase blurs Jesus’ sentence and makes it impossible for readers to perceive what He specified to His disciples.

10:9c – “You are the equipment.” – This is entirely from Peterson; nothing in the original text corresponds to this sentence.

10:9d – “and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day.” – Jesus said nothing to His disciples about eating three meals a day.  Jesus said that the worker is worthy of his food.  The reference to three daily meals is just something that Peterson threw in without any textual basis, except the reference to food.

10:10 – “don’t insist on staying at a luxury inn.  Get a modest place with some modest people” – This is not what Jesus said.  He told the disciples that whenever they enter a city or village, they should inquire about who is worthy.  No parameters are given about whether the residence is large or small, or about whether or not it is “modest.” 

10:14a – “If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw.  Don’t make a scene.  Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.” – Jesus’ instructions were very different.  He told His disciples that if they were not received and their words were not heeded, they were to shake the dust off their feet as they departed.  How did the early church interpret Jesus’ statement?  We do not have to guess, because Acts 13 provides an account of how Paul and Barnabas acted when their message was rejected in the city of Antioch-in-Pisidia:  in Acts 13:46, they boldly answered the Jews who opposed their message, and in Acts 13:51 “they shook the dust from their feet in protest.”  This is a far cry from the quiet shrugging of shoulders that Peterson made up out of thin air.

10:15a – “You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry’ – Here Peterson has subtracted and added.  Jesus said that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than it will be for such a city.  The Message completely skips this reference to Sodom and Gomorrah.  This does not mean that Peterson undertook his task with an agenda to eliminate or significantly reduce Biblical condemnations of sodomy, but when references such as this one in Matthew 10:15 are deliberately obscured, one wonders how different a version made with such an agenda would be from what is encountered in The Message.  

10:15b – “but it’s no concern of yours now.” – Nothing in the Greek text of Matthew 10:14 corresponds to these words.  Peterson just threw them in.

10:16 – “This is hazardous work I’m assigning you.” – This entire sentence is an insertion; once again, nothing in the Greek text corresponds to these words.

10:17 – “Some people will impugn your motives; others will smear your reputation.” – Jesus said that His disciples will be handed over to councils and that His disciples will be scourged in the synagogues.  Motive-impugning and reputation-smearing are not the actions described by Jesus in this verse, and the base-text does not justify mentioning them.  Does anyone imagine that smearing your reputation is the equivalent of scourging?    

10:18 – “Without knowing it, they’ve done you – and me – a favor” – None of this has a basis in the base-text; it is all an insertion.  Meanwhile, the phrase και τοις εθνεσιν (“and the Gentiles”) is not represented in The Message in any way.

10:21a – “When people realize that it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good” – There is nothing in the base-text that corresponds to any of this.

10:21b – “They are going to turn on you, even people in your own family.” – This is an extremely blurry summary of what Jesus said.  The base-text says, “Brother will betray brother to be killed, and a father his child, and children will rise up against their parents and have them killed.”  This verse has been thoroughly abbreviated and adulterated.

10:22b – “But don’t quit.  Don’t cave in.  It is all well worth it in the end.” – This is all a fine sentiment, but it is ridiculous as a translation of what Jesus said in this verse, which is simply, “The one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved.” 

10:23 – “Be survivors!  Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.” – The imprecision here is completely unnecessary.  Did Peterson feel that the meaning of Jesus’ sentence to the disciples was deficient, and must be put at a distance?  There is a lot more to the Greek text of this verse, as follows:  “And when they persecute you in this city, flee to another.  For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

10:24a – “A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher.” – Jesus’ actual sentence lack any reference to a female student; it also lacks any reference to a desk.

 

10:25b – The entire phrase (present in the Greek base-text), “and for the slave to be like his master,” is not represented.  It is as if a sentence in the base-text has simply vanished.

10:25c – “If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?” – The Greek word that Peterson rendered “Dungface” is Βεελζεβουλ (Beelzeboul), which is the name of a demon.  Peterson’s mistranslation completely obscures the connection between 10:25 and the Pharisees’ actions in 9:34.  In addition, the term οικοδεσποτην simply means house-master, not capital-M “Master,” as if Jesus is some sort of Ascended Master or Jedi Master.

10:27 – “So don’t hesitate to go public now.” – Can anyone seriously consider this an adequate representation of the base-text???  Here is the sentence:  “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.”  (Unnecessary abridgments such as this one occur frequently in The Message.)

10:28a – “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies.” – This is a fine sentiment, but it leaves out a significant part of what Jesus said:  “And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.”  The opponents in view here are not schoolyard bullies; they are individuals with the means to kill.

10:28b – “Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life – body and soul – in his hands.”  It is difficult to overstate the inaccuracy of The Message in this verse.  Here is the Greek text of the last sentence:  Φοβεισθε δε μαλλον τον δυναμενον και ψυχην και σωμα απολέσαι εν Γεέννη, that is, “Fear, instead, the one with power to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Besides significantly altering the nuance of the sentence, Peterson completely removed the reference to hell. 

10:29 – “What’s the price of a pet canary?  Some loose change, right?” – In the real world, Jesus referred to the price of two sparrows, not to the price of a pet canary.  (And have you seen how much canaries actually cost?  It’s more like $20, not “some loose change.”)  A literal translation of the base-text would not be difficult to understand.  Peterson’s translational choice here, as in a multitude of other passages, seems as irreverently flippant and capricious as it is inaccurate and unnecessary.

10:31 – “of all this bully talk.” – There is no basis for this in the base-text.  Peterson just threw that in there.

10:33 – “If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?” – Peterson has sacrificed accuracy for the sake of stylistic flair, and left a significant part of the base-text unrepresented.  Here is the sentence that he has mauled:  “And whoever will deny me before people, I also will deny him before my Father in heaven.”  Three things have happened here:  (1)  the act of making a candid denial of Christ has been turned into the act of turning tail and running, (2)  Jesus’ affirmation has been turned into a question, and (3) a reference to “my Father in heaven” has completely disappeared.

Matthew 10:38:  where did the cross go?
I thought there was something here
about taking up your cross.

10:38 – “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me.” – Where did the cross go???  In the real world, this verse says, “And the one who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”  It’s right there:  σταυρον (“cross”).  Is Peterson’s translation-technique actual sorcery, or just sleight-of-hand?  Either way, he makes a clear reference to the cross disappear!

10:40 – “We are intimately linked in this harvest work.” – This entire sentence is an addition; nothing corresponds to it in the base-text.  Here and elsewhere, it is almost as if Peterson wrote thematic titles for various paragraphs, and inserted them into the text, slightly changed as if they were the words of Christ.

10:41 – “This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it.  It’s best to start small.” – Both of these sentences have no parallel in the base-text.  Jesus did not say these words that The Message attributes to him.  They are insertions by Eugene Peterson.

10:41 – “Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help.” – Peterson just made this up.  The Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew does not contain this, or anything like this.

10:42 – “The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice.” – This sentence has no parallel in the base-text.  It is an insertion, originating not with Jesus but with Eugene Peterson.

          So:  in Matthew 10, The Message contains 37 flaws (or more, depending on how they’re counted).  Peterson freely adds phrases and sentences which have no textual foundation.  He repeatedly fails to translate entire phrases and sentences that are in the base-text (no matter which text-type is being consulted).  He omits two references to the cross, two references to Israel, a reference to Sodom and Gomorrah, and a reference to hell. 

          These inaccuracies in Matthew 10 are not exceptions.  They are typical.  Elsewhere, The Message refers to casseroles, telescopes, pajamas, the dictionary, and on and on.  The New Testament's references to hell have been consistently watered down.  Some of Peterson’s theological biases have been smuggled in.  Inspired sentences have been left out.  From beginning to end, this version is blatantly inaccurate. 

          Can any responsible, well-informed Christian recommend The Message?  Certainly:  as a representation of Eugene Peterson’s interpretations of the Bible, it’s terrific!  If it were being marketed as a commentary, many aspects of it would be commendable.  When it is read discerningly, as a commentary, The Message can be a source of edification.  But as a Bible translation – which is what NavPress is marketing it as, and which is what many preachers treat it as – it is a disaster.  It is like a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea, with barnacles and holes from beginning to end.   

          Thus ends my review of The Message.  But there is an implication of this that should not be ignored:  the people who helped make The Message and the people who still promote it as a Bible translation must be extremely untrustworthy as evaluators of the quality and accuracy of Bible translations.  (I daresay that if you meet any scholar who recommends making The Message your primary translation for doctrinal study, run away fast and far.) 

          These individuals include – as consultants for The Message – Darrell Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary), Peter Ennes (Eastern University), Duane Garrett (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), William Klein (Denver Seminary), Tremper Longman III (Westmont College), and Rodney Whitacre (Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry).  They also include – as public promoters for The Message – Gordon Fee, Michael Card, Leith Anderson, and Jerry B. Jenkins.

          The individuals in these lists may be fellow believers, with impeccable credentials of every kind, and they may have wonderfully fruitful ministries; nevertheless, as evaluators of the accuracy of Bible translations, each and every one is demonstrably unworthy of the church’s trust.  

____________

Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE, Copyright © 1993, 21994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.  Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.  

[Normally I would not refer to The Message as Scripture, 

but this notice is probably legally required and I don’t want to get sued.]