A New Age Translation of the Bible

This message is an extension of my earlier messages - "New Age teachings in the Church" and "The foundation of Biblical Christianity." Please read these messages before you read this. I believe the New Age Movement (NAM) is getting deeper and deeper into the Church of Jesus Christ. More and more pastors are being deceived daily. With the emergence of of New Age translations of the Bible, even renowned and prominent Christian leaders, are being led into the NAM. Here are some of them - Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Chuck Swindell, J. I. Parker, Jack Hayford, Jerry Jenkins, Richard Foster, Rod Parsley, Tony Campolo and Warren Wiersbe, among many others.

A New Age translation of the Bible I am referring to is Eugene H. Peterson's "The Message." Someone said: "With today's epidemic of Bible per-versions spreading like a runaway virus, nothing should shock us - but buckle up! If you have any spiritual pulse, Eugene Peterson's "The Message" will shock you." Sadly, many pastors either they have no spiritual pulse to begin with, or they have lose it somehow. Needly to say, any believer, let alone a pastor, who has no spiritual pulse, is spiritually dead. Their Church members are also spiritually dead if they welcome the New Age reachings and endorse the New Age Bible. I was told Rick Warren insisted that everyone in Saddleback Church has a copy of "The Message."

The Author of "The Message"

Eugene H. Peterson wrote two translations of the Bible, called "The Message." The first published is - "The New Testament in Contemporary English," published in 1993. The second is - "The Bible in Contemporary Language," published in 2002.

According to the publisher (NavPress), Eugene Peterson started out to become a scholar, but after earning a master's degree in Hebrew he changed his plans and entered the ministry, as a pastor in a Presbyterian Church (USA). There he served for some years before he retired to write "The Message." He began to create this version during a series of lessons on Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. He observed that his congregation was bored with the Biblical text as they knew it, and so, in order to stimulate them, he wrote a paraphrase of the Epistle, in which he tried to make it extraordinary vivid and interesting to them. Later, the publisher persuaded Peterson to put the entire New Testament in the same kind of language. This became a best seller because of the false advertisement given by the publisher. "The Message" has been advertised as a "translation from the original languages" that "accurately communicates the original Hebrew and Greek" and bring out "the subtleties and nuances of the Hebrew and Greek languages," being the work of a respected "exergetical scholar," etc. But, the truth is, "The Message" is a free paraphrase of Biblical text, often very eccentric, with many unlikely renderings, lengthy insertions and omissions, and other problems. Peterson's purpose is to present something new and provocative at every turn, something vivid and unusual, in order to stir up the dull minds of people who have become bored with their familiar Bibles. "The Message" promotes the mystical New Age message with a boldness never seen before. It has sold over 10 million copies and has continually ranked among the top five best-selling Bibles.

"The Message" attacks the "Lord"

The "Lord" occurs a whopping 7970 times in the King James Bible (KJB). "The Message" contains the "Lord" only 71 times! It never directly honor Jesus Christ as the Lord. The "Lord Jesus" and the "Lord Jesus Christ" occur 118 times and 84 times respectively in the KJB. But, the phrase "Lord Jesus Christ" or "Lord Jesus" is not in "The Message!" Notice that the outright denial of the "Lord" Jesus has never occurred in any translation!

"The Message" replaces "Lord Jesus" with "Master Jesus"

It is interesting that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus never called Jesus "Lord," but called Him "Master."

"Then Jesus, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said" (Matt. 26:25, KJB, emphasis added).

Following the footsteps of Judas, the betrayer, "The Message" also "betrays" the Lord. It always called Jesus "Master" and never "Lord." In fact, the term, "Master Jesus" appears 76 times!

Here are some examples:

1. "As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, 'Master Jesus, take my life'" (Acts 7:59, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "And as they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Emphasis added).

2. "And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive" (2 Cor. 4:14, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you" (Emphasis added).

3. "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor. 12:3, KJB, emphasis added).

The above verse warns against spiritual counterfeits such as "The Message" that deny Jesus as the "Lord." Notice how "The Message" attempts to cover its tracks by perverting the same verse:

"For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say 'Jesus be damned!' Nor would anyone be inclined to say 'Jesus is Master!' without the insight of the Holy Spirit" (The Message, emphasis added).

From the examples above, we realize that "The Message" loudly echo the Judas-inspired, New Age doctrine of the "Master Jesus." Notice that Jesus called Judas the "son of perdition" (John 17:12) - which is also the title of the antichrist in 2 Thess. 2:3). Notice also that Judas was possesed by Satan (Luke 22:3). Therefore, we come to the conclusion that the NAM and the New Age Bibles, one of which is "The Message," are Satan inspired!

"The Message" replaces "Lord God" with "Master God"

The term, "Lord God" occurs 546 times in the KJB. But, "The Message" replaces "Lord God" with "Master God." I could not find the term "Master God" in any other Bible version.

Here are some examples - Take note of the NAM inspired mystic tone of "Master God" in "The Message."

1. "Abram said, 'Master God, how am I to know this, that it will all be mine'" (Genesis 15:8, The Message, emphasis added)?

The KJB says - "And he (Abram) said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it" (Emphasis added)?

2. "King David went in, took his place before God, and prayed: 'Who am I, my Master God, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this place in life'" (2 Samuel 7:18, The Message, emphasis added)?

The KJB says - "Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto" (Emphasis added)?

3. "He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'Master God, only you know that'" (Ezekiel 37:3, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest" (Emphasis added).

"The Message" spreads the New Age "Oneness" and "Interdependence"

A NAM guidebook ("A Time of Departing," by Ray Yungen) says, "Everything is one with everything else. All that is on Earth is an expression of the One Deity and is permeated with its energies."

Here are some examples:

1. "I in them and you in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, ..." (John 17:23, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; ..." (Emphasis added).

2. "Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness, ..." (1 Cor. 10:17, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "For we being many are one bread, and one body: ..." (Emphasis added).

Cult author Dr. Walter Martin, identifies "interdependence" as a New Age "buzz-word" used to "describe the oneness." He said in his book, "The New Age Cult" - "These words (interdependence/interconnectedness) are used by New Agers to describe the oneness and essential unity of everything in the universe."

Here is an example:

"Everyone I meet - it matters little whether they're mannered or rude, smart or simple - deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation" (Romans 1:14, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise."

Notice the phrase - "My sense of interdependence" is added in by the author of "The Message."

"The Message" uses the word "Presence" to describe the manifestation of God's presence

The author of "The Message" uses the common New Age term, "Presence" to describe the mystic, impersonal and unseen pantheist "presence" of God. "The Message" refers to God at least 43 times as "Presence" used by the NAM. I believe any teaching concerning the God of the Bible as a mystic "Presence" constitutes blasphemy!

The following verses (of many) echo the NAM mystic "Presence" used by "The Message":

1. "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man" (John 3:13, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "And on man hath ascended up to heave, but the that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."

The word "Presence" is not there. There is none in the original Greek translation eithr.

2. "I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth" (Rev. 20:11, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."

Again, the word "Presence" is not there.

The author of "The Message" calls the sacred "showbread" as the mystic "Bread of the Presence" seven times (Exodus 25:30, 35:13, 39:36; 1 Sam. 21:4; 1 Kings 7:48; 2 Chron. 4:19, 29:18) in his Bible.

Here is an example:

"Always keep fresh Bread of the Presence on the Table for me" (Exodus 25:30, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always."

Again, the word "Presence" is not there.

"The Message" uses the word "energy" as used by NAM

To the NAM "energy" is a spiritual force used in prayer, meditation and rituals. "The Message" explicitly promotes the NAM mystical "energy." It appears 40 times in "The Message."

Here are some examples:

1. "When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person" (Luke 6:28, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you" (Emphasis added).

Notice that "The Message" changes "pray" to "the energies of prayer." Apparently, God no longer answers our prayers, instead, the prayer itself, generates "the energy!" On the other hand, the Bible definition of "prayer" means "to ask." (Matt. 21:22).

2. "At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my robe'" (Mark 5:30, The Message, emphasis added)?

The KJB says - "And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes" (Emphasis added)?

In the New King James, the word "virtue" is replaced by "Power."

3. "All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven" (Ephesians 1:20, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."

The above examples show that "The Message" is closely linked with the doctrine of "energy" of the NAM.

"The Message" crudely emphasizes sex

The aim of the author is to have a version of the Bible that is not boring and at the same time appealing to today's youth. I think he has succeeded.

The word "sex" appears 199 times. Someone said, "'The Message' contains enough 'sex' to satisfy even Hugh Hefner (The founder of the "Playboy" empire)!"

Here are some examples:

1. "Saul exploded in anger at Jonathan: 'You son of a slut ..." (1 Sam. 20:30, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, ..."

The author of "The Message" sees a "perverse rebellious woman" as a "slut."

2. "At every major intersection you built your bold brothels and exposed your sluttish sex, spreading your legs for everyone for everyone who passed by" (Ezekiel 16:24, The Message, emphasis added).

The KJB says - "That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street."

The is no mention of "sex" in the original Hebrew language. We need to understand the in Old Testament days, there were times when Israel committed spiritual adultery or harlotry with foreign gods. Ezekiel 16 describes such a time.

Conclusion

"The Message" spews the most vulgar and crude language ever recorded in a mainstream Bible! Here what the psalmist says: "Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it" (Ps. 119:140, KJB).

All true servants of God must reject "The Message1" It is inspired by Satan. It is not given by inspiration of God. It is unclean and it is poisonous!