Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Page 37
In these last days there are hundreds of newer
versions of the bible being thrust upon us. I believe it is satan's tool to
confuse us and pervert the truth. "The Message" written
by Eugene Peterson is heavily endorsed and used by Rick
Warren and his Saddleback church.
The overuse of "the Message" can be seen specifically in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven books. "The Message" is the biggest example of men blaspheming/ corrupting God's truth. This post will expose the error and the hidden agenda of this false bible.
After reading this article, please then take a look at this link http://www.sdadefend.com/MINDEX-U-Z/Saddleback.pdf which shows how Rick Warren uses the false translation of "the Message" to distort truth and how he produces a very worldly and counterfeit type of church devoid of "real" spiritual life.
New paragraph added 1st September 2013:
The following has been taken from http://www.crossroad.to/Bible_studies/Message.html which shows how dangerous this false "bible" is (actually a paraphrase - a man's own opinions on what the Bible says) and why it should be rejected, thrown away or even burnt.
To read it, is to allow your mind to become
polluted by false interpretation which can colour forever the way you view God, His true message, truth, sin etc etc. Eventually the harm done could take years to undo and may never be fully healed. We MUST study God's word direct from trustworthy versions only (more on that later and throughout this blog).
The overuse of "the Message" can be seen specifically in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven books. "The Message" is the biggest example of men blaspheming/ corrupting God's truth. This post will expose the error and the hidden agenda of this false bible.
After reading this article, please then take a look at this link http://www.sdadefend.com/MINDEX-U-Z/Saddleback.pdf which shows how Rick Warren uses the false translation of "the Message" to distort truth and how he produces a very worldly and counterfeit type of church devoid of "real" spiritual life.
New paragraph added 1st September 2013:
The following has been taken from http://www.crossroad.to/Bible_studies/Message.html which shows how dangerous this false "bible" is (actually a paraphrase - a man's own opinions on what the Bible says) and why it should be rejected, thrown away or even burnt.
To read it, is to allow your mind to become
polluted by false interpretation which can colour forever the way you view God, His true message, truth, sin etc etc. Eventually the harm done could take years to undo and may never be fully healed. We MUST study God's word direct from trustworthy versions only (more on that later and throughout this blog).
 |
What kind of message is THE MESSAGE?
Written in
1993 in response to several requests
|
Emphasis
added throughout the report
|
The Message DELETES the
reference to God's holy name, ADDS requests not voiced by
Jesus, and changes the meaning of other verses. Follow the link and learn
more about the phrase, "As above, so below."
|
|
Matthew
6:9-13
"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. |
The Message:
"Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best -
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you
and forgiving others.
Keep us safe
from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
|
The Message distorts the
relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son:
|
|
John 10:30"I and the Father are
one."
John 14:28
"...The Father is greater than I."
|
The Message:
"I and the Father are one heart and
mind."
The Message:
"The Father is the goal and
purpose of my life."
|
Riding a spreading tide of publicity and enthusiasm, Eugene
Peterson's The Message is sweeping into Christian bookstores,
homes and churches from coast to coast. In the first four months after its
mid-July lease, 100,000 copies of this "New Testament in contemporary
English" were printed by NavPress. Seventy thousand books were sold.
Thousands were either donated or distributed at reduced prices to youth
leaders, Young Life staff, and pastors who could share Peterson's message with
their followers. Apparently, most readers were delighted. "The Message is
so good it leaves me breathless," writes popular author Madeleine L'Engle[1] in her endorsement.
Considering this ground-swell of acceptance, we do well to ponder the
question: What is Peterson's Message?
"The Message is the boldest and most provocative
rendering of the New Testament I've ever read," writes Dr. Warren W.
Wiersbe, general director of "Back to the Bible" broadcast
and former pastor of Moody Bible Church. "The Message is
certainly destined to become a devotional classic - not to mention a powerful
pastoral tool," adds pastor Jack W. Hayford.
What does Eugene Peterson himself say? In his introduction to The
Message, he tells us that "This version of the New Testament in a
contemporary idiom keeps the language of the Message and fresh and
understandable in the same language in which we do our shopping, talk with our
friends, worry about world affairs, and teach our children their table
manners...."
This sounds like a good idea, but what if essential Biblical concepts
are not part of our everyday conversation? Should we then rewrite God's
holy Scriptures to fit today's more shallow and worldly communications?
Remember, we are dealing with God's holy unchangeable Word - not an
ordinary book. God owns His message, we don't. Only His own, well-guarded words
can be presented as absolute truth. Yet, readers who trust NavPress and the
endorsement of Christian leaders such Warren Wiersbe and J. I. Packer view this
book as an authentic translation of the Bible rather than as Peterson's
personal, politically correct interpretation.
Throughout both Old and New Testaments, God forbids us to distort His
Word. Additions and deletions are strictly forbidden in
Scriptures like Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32, Proverbs 30:6, Galatians 1:8-9 and
Revelation 22:19. Acts 17:11 exhorts us to learn from the Bereans who "examined the
Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Eugene Peterson would probably agree. His own interpretation of 2
Corinthians 4:2 holds him accountable to this timeless standard:
"We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't
twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather we keep everything we do
and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to
can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God."
While the above verse corresponds to the original Greek, many other
passages do just what The Message promisesnot to
do: they "twist God's word to suit" human inclinations. In fact, the
very next sentence (verses 3-4), fails the test. It does not "keep... the
whole truth on display." Instead, it deletes the original references both
to "those
who are perishing" and to the glory of "Christ, who is the
image of God."
It doesn't take a Greek scholar to recognize the appalling distortions
of God's holy Word. Any Bible student willing to compare Peterson's Message with
a Greek/English Interlinear Lexicon and take time to look up key words in a
credible New Testament Bible dictionary will discover alarming deletions,
distortions and additions to the original text. If Peterson is
right, then all our other Bibles - the KJV, NASV, NIV, Greek-English
interlinear Bibles - are false.
See for yourself. We have compared quotes from The Message with
corresponding Scriptures in Bible version generally considered
"authoritative." Most of the time, we have used the New
International Version -- not because we like the NIV or use it ourselves (we
don't), but because, in all fairness, we wanted to choose a standard version
that would come closest to Eugene Peterson goal of an
"understandable" language. Please check the difference yourself by
comparing the passages below from The Message with your own
Bible.
To emphasize differences, corresponding words and phrases are
underlined. Please pray for discernment as you check the following additions
and deletions:
* DELETES words
that imply occult spirituality. SUBSTITUTES more finite, human influences:
1
Timothy 4:1 "...in
later times some will abandon the faith and follow seducing spirits and doctrines
of demons." (KJV)
|
The
Message: "...as
time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase afterdemonic
illusions put forth by professional liars."
|
[We're not just
dealing with illusions. Deceiving spirits and the timeless doctrines of demons
are far more effective in deceiving people than illusions and professional
liars.]
* DELETES reference to "the ruler of the kingdom of
the air" and "sinful nature:"
Ephesians
2:1-3:
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you
used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying
the cravings of our sinful nature[2] and following its desires and
thoughts."
|
The
Message:
"It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant
life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about
living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief,
and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we
felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same
boat."
|
* MINIMIZES occult dangers, DELETES consequences:
Thessalonians
2:9: "The
coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders, and in
every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because
they refused to love the truth and so be saved."
|
The
Message: "The Anarchist's[3] coming is all Satan's work.
All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that
plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And
since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it - gives them
what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their
chosen world of lies and illusions."
|
[Peterson's tendency
to delete the supernatural and minimize the consequences of sin reminds me of
Rom. 1:18 - "The wrath of God is being revealed...against all the
godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth..."]
* DELETES references to sinful nature and
occult practices, minimizing Satan's power:
Galatians
5:19-21:
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity
and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of
rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies,
and the like."
|
The
Message:
"It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own
way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of
mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;
trinket gods; magic-show religions; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat
competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an
impotence to love or be loved.... ugly parodies of community. I could go
on."
|
[Idolatry and
witchcraft are not the same as trinket gods and magic-show
religions! We're dealing with spiritual forces far greater than magical
illusions.]
*SOUNDS like
the song "Awaiting You All" by George Harrison (Beatles) through
"chanting the names of the Lord:"
You don't need a horoscope or a microscope to see the mess
that you're in
If you open up your heart You will know what I mean...
Now here's a way for you to get clean
By chanting the names of the lord and you'll be free
The lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see.
If you open up your heart You will know what I mean...
Now here's a way for you to get clean
By chanting the names of the lord and you'll be free
The lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see.
Colossians
2:10:
"...and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over
every power and authority."
|
The
Message:
"You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a
horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of
the universe without him..."
|
* DELETES words like adulterers and homosexual which
identify specific sins and ADDS a politically correct reference to
environmentalism.
(Recall the environmental terminology in Eph. 2:1-3, "filled your
lungs with polluted unbelief...")
1
Corinthians 6:9-11:
"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders [sodomites] nor
thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified..."
|
The
Message:
"Unjust people who don't care about God will not be joining in his
kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse
the earth and everything in it don't qualify as citizens in God's kingdom. A
number of you know from experience what I'm talking about, for not so long
ago you were on that list. Since then, you've been cleaned up and given a
fresh start...."
|
* DELETES reference to obedience and
to the grace of our Lord:
Romans 16:19-21. "Everyone has
heard about your obedience [the Greek word consistently refers to obedience
or obeying][4], so I am full of joy over you; but
I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
The God of
peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of
our Lord Jesus be with you."
|
The
Message:
"And so while there has never been any question about your honesty in
this matters - I couldn't be more proud of you! - I want you also to be
smart, making sure every "good" thing is the real
thing. Don't be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay
alert like this, and before you know it the God of peace will come down on
Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt. Enjoy the best of
Jesus!"
|
* DELETES "sexual immorality." ADDS "avoids commitment and
intimacy:"
1
Corinthians 6:18-20:
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside
his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."
|
The
Message:
"There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much a spiritual
mystery as a physical fact. As written in Scripture, 'The two become one.'
Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue
the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more
lonely than ever - the kind of sex that can never 'become one.' ....In sexual
sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were
made for God-given and God-modeled love, for 'becoming one' with
another."[5]
|
[One could conclude
that "commitment and intimacy" or "becoming one", not
marriage, set the boundaries for acceptable sex.]
* ADDS words
that qualify homosexuality, providing a loophole for committed homosexuals
who "love" each other. DELETES "God gave
them over...":
Romans
1:26-27: "Because
of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged
natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned
natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men
committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due
penalty for their perversion."
|
The
Message: "Worse
followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either
- women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually
confused, theyabused and defiled one another, women with women, men with
men - all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for
it - emptied of God and love, Godless and loveless wretcheds."
|
[This strange
wording leaves a loophole for homosexuality to be permitted if it was an
expression of love, not lust - which many gay couples claim today. In other
words, lust becomes the sin, not the choice of a same-sex
partner. The consequences of disobedience, "due penalty"
seems broader than "emptied of God and love..." Historically it
includes sexually transmitted diseases as well as spiritual death. That
politically incorrect possibility is deleted here.]
*
DISTORTS truth with a contemporary bias:
Romans
3:19-20.
"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who
are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole
world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in
His sight by observing the law, rather through the law we become
conscious of sin.
|
The
Message:
"This makes it clear, doesn't it, thatwhatever is written in these
Scriptures is not what God says about others but to
us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place!
and it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the
same sinking boat with everyone else? Our involvement with God's revelation
doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our
complicity in everyone else's sin."
|
[This
interpretation endorses today's false standard of tolerance: Don't expose or
criticize another person; just deal with your own sin. It defies God's
guidelines concerning counseling, correction, restoration and accountability -
and supports today's tendency to condone sin. See Romans 1:32 - but not in
The Message. It deletes this important point.]
* DELETES "spiritual"
- spiritual readiness to receive God's resources for ministry.[6] SUBSTITUTES"live
creatively," usually a reference to human resources, not God's:
Galatians
6:1-2:
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should
restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."
|
The
Message:
"Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly
restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be
needing forgiveness before the day's out."
|
* DELETES references to
submission. ADDS marital
equality:
1 Peter
3:1, 7: "Wives,
in the same way besubmissive to your husbands...
Husbands,
in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them
with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with
you of the gracious gift of life..."
|
The
Message: "The
same goes for you wives: Begood wives to your husbands, responsive to
their needs...
The
same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor
them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your
advantages. But in the new life of God's grace,you're equals.
Treat your wives, then, as equals...."
|
*
DELETES references to sexual immorality,
repentance, tolerating sin, the God who searches hearts and minds...
Revelation
2:22:
"I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls
herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual
immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time
to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. so I will cast her on a
bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer
intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead.
Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and
minds..."
|
The
Message:
"But why do you let that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet mislead my
dear servants into Cross-denying, self-indulging religion? I gave her a
chance to change her ways, but she has not intention of giving up a career in
the god-business. I'm about to lay her low, along with her partners, as they
play their sex-and-religion games. The bastard offspring of their idol-whoring
I'll kill. Then every church will know that appearances don't impress
me."
|
* MISLEADING emphasis:
Romans
15:4-5.
"For everything that was written in the past was written to
teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures,
we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and
encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as
you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may
glorify the God..."
|
The
Message:
"Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's
written for us. God wants the combination of his steady,
constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to
characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably
steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you
get along with each other as well asJesus gets along with us all.
Then we'll be a choir... our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning
anthem to the God..."
|
[No mention of endurance and hope -
which implies triumph in the midst of suffering, as we remain confident that
God will do all He has promised. In light of Peterson's tendency to minimize
the disciplining side of God, his emphasis on awarm, feel-good God seems
to distort God's revelation of Himself. Notice, "follow Christ Jesus"
is replaced by a Jesus who "gets along with us."]
* REPLACES "reconciliation"
(a spiritual work based on the cross) with "friend."
ADDS "drop
their differences" (Could he be promoting a PC form of unity?):
2
Corinthians 5:20: "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as
though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's
behalf: Be reconciled to God."
|
The
Message: "We're
Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop
their differences and enter into God's work of making things right
between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends
with God; he's already a friend with you."
|
* ADDS a promise not found in the original Greek:
Romans
8:35-37: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or
hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?"
|
The
Message: "Do
you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's
love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not
hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:"
|
The last passage seems consistent with Peterson's refusal to mention those "worst sins" in the various New Testament lists of fleshly expressions. It also helps explain his commendation of medieval mystic Julian of Norwich,whose teachings - often quoted by controversial priest Matthew Fox, founder of Creation Spirituality - fueled the fourteenth-century flowering of pantheistic mysticism. In his article titled "Spirit Quest"[7] (Christianity Today, 11-8-93), Peterson wrote, "Single-minded, persevering faithfulness confirms the authenticity of our spirituality.
The ancestors we look to for encouragement in this business - Augustine of Hippo and Julian of Norwich, John Calvin.... Teresa of Avila - didn't flit. They stayed."
Since Julian of Norwich is a spiritual model to the man who has
interpreted God's Word for today, let's take a look at what she
believed. Indeed, her teachings seem to echo some of the cultural
biases that thread through The Message. They also fit today's
uncritical search for experiential, feeling-centered spirituality. In his
book, Soul Friend, Kenneth Leech describes some of her convictions:
"Because she held strongly this belief in the closeness of man and
God, Julian has an optimistic assessment of man and the universe, and a belief
that sin is relatively unimportant... Moreover she claims that 'God
showed me that sin need be no shame to man but can even be worthwhile.'
She seems to mean by this that sins are disguised virtues, for 'in heaven what
sin typifies is turned into a thing of honor.'[8]
" ...In Julian's theology, we find the fullest expression of
the concept of the femininity of God. 'God is really our Mother as he is
Father,' she says. 'Our precious Mother Jesus brings us to
supernatural birth, nourishes and cherishes us by dying for us, giving us the
sacrament.... Her mysticism brings tenderness and 'homeliness'
to the understanding of God our Mother.[9] (Emphasis added)
The same article introduces another spiritual model. Peterson writes
that "Baron Friedrich von Hugel, a Roman Catholic layperson, was
one of the most respected spiritual directors in England in the
early years of this century." He devotes an entire paragraph to this
leader whom the Encyclopedia Britannica[10] describes as "the precursor of the
realist revival in philosophy and of the theological study of religious
feeling."[11]
Like the culture around us, many churches today seem to emphasize good feelings and subjective experience rather than uncompromising faith based on God's revealed truth - the only foundation for a mature relationship with God. Peterson's definition for spirituality in his article seems to reflect this drift from solid rock to shifting sand - along with an alarming focus on self rather than God:
"Intimacy: we want to experience human love and
trust and joy. Transcendence: we want to experience divine love and trust and
joy... We hunger for divine meaning, someone who will bless
us. And sospirituality, a fusion of intimacy and transcendence,
overnight becomes a passion for millions of North Americans.... It is
heartening that our continent is experiencing a recovery of desire to
embrace intimacies and respond to
transcendence...." (Emphasis added)[12]
Peterson rightly points out the need to discriminate "between the
true and false" as people "ransack exotic cultures and esoteric
groups in a search for wholeness."[13] But what does he mean when he tells his
readers to acquire "abiblical imagination - entering into
the vast world of the Bible and getting a feel for the
territory, an instinct for reality." What part did his imagination
play in the formation of The Message? (See Shepherds & Prophets
who mislead their flock )
The inspired scribes of God's holy Word documented facts and observations. They were led by the Holy Spirit, not personal imagination. God was the Creator, not man. No one should know this better than J. I. Packer, the beloved author of Knowing God. Yet in his endorsement of The Message, he uses the same questionable terms -- words popularized by the New Age quest for personal empowerment and unbiblical energies. "In this crowded world of Bible versions," writes Packer, "Eugene Peterson's blend of accurate scholarship and vivid idiom make this rendering both distinctive and distinguished. The Message catches the logical flow, personal energy, and imaginative overtones of the original very well indeed."
What does Packer mean? Does the Bible really have imaginative overtones?
Peterson's introduction to Revelation gives that impression. He
identifies John as a pastor on Patmos, who "is preeminently concerned with
worship" -- not sharing God-given visions of end-time events. This first
century pastor is also "a poet, fond of metaphor and symbol, image
and allusion" who challenges "our intelligence and
imagination."
Historical facts and absolute truth made the Bible unique among the world's religious documents. Pagan myths, on the other hand, spring from imagination, personal feelings and mystical experiences. Yet, the author of The Messagerepeatedly stresses the latter. He writes, "We are after what we came for in the first place: intimacy and transcendence, personal friends and a personal God, love and worship."[14]
It seems paradoxical that someone who desires intimacy with God, would minimize or ignore the main obstacles to that intimacy: our sinful nature, our specific sins and our lack of submission and obedience to God. Could an answer to this paradox lie in the strange spirituality he propounds in his article?
I realize that Peterson's intent was "to recapture the tone" and subtleties of the Greek language. Whether or not he achieved that (personally I believe that his language reflects neither the heart of Jesus nor His followers' fiery devotion to a holy sovereign God and the integrity of His Word), this noble goal can never be an excuse for "dumbing-down"[15]Scripture to match our culture's downward trends.
The fact that essential Biblical terms are no longer part of our everyday conversation doesn't give us license to soften God's message. Shouldn't we rather aim to use Scriptures to lift our communications to the level where our language reflects the eternal perspective of God's revealed truth? That seems to be the exhortation of Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and 2 Timothy 3:16. When we simplify Scripture by removing its mysteries, controversies and exhortations toward God's highest, we demean our Lord and misinform believers.
Some might ask, "Who are you to question the wisdom and scholarship of respected Church leaders?"
The sad fact is that shepherds and leaders throughout history have turned from truth to embrace "new" teachings. We are all called to "examine Scriptures" and test our leaders as did the Bereans and Ephesians.[16] Our ability to exercise this kind of discernment comes from the Holy Spirit - as God tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:5: "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant." (NASV) Sad to say, Peterson deleted this wonderful promise of God's sufficiency for any task He assigns us.
"But isn't most of The Message accurate?" ask some. Probably. So is the Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible. However, it only takes the distortion of a few key passages to reflect an entirely different message. When any part -- even "the smallest letter" -- of God's Word is changed, the integrity of the whole is lost.
If The Message is accepted as Biblical truth, three distortions of New Testament teachings could spread and permeate the Church, conforming "truth" to popular consensus and false unity:
Since God is love, He
wouldn't be so cruel as to cause someone to suffer, perish or burn in hell. So
don't mention Biblical consequences or punishment.
Since God forgives,
don't be too concerned about specific sins such as homosexuality or adultery.
Jesus wouldn't want you to offend someone.
Since God is
tolerant, don't correct others. Be tolerant of all, except those who
criticize something you like. (This politically correct attitude
censors much-needed
rational, objective criticism as a corrective force.)
rational, objective criticism as a corrective force.)
The consequences of twisting God's holy Word are devastating.[17] Throughout
history, whenever God's people followed distorted teaching and ignored genuine
truth, they would compromise with popular culture and drift back to
earth-centered spirituality. It's happening all around us today. The masks for
timeless paganism - whether they are Babylonian, Canaanite, Roman or Native
American - make little difference. All these polytheistic/pan-theistic/monistic
belief systems mocked God and established deadly connection between
gullible seekers and demonic spirits.
Today's most seductive masks bear an alarming resemblance to Christianity. History documents the results - both personal and cultural: a tragic blend of plagues, drought, famine and wars. (I document these in Under the Spell of Mother Earth.) Humanism was often an intermediary step (see Psalm 12:4) and continues to provide an effective tool for banishing God until spiritual hunger draws people to all kinds of pagan, earth-centered alternatives. Romans 1 outlines this timeless slide.
Today's most seductive masks bear an alarming resemblance to Christianity. History documents the results - both personal and cultural: a tragic blend of plagues, drought, famine and wars. (I document these in Under the Spell of Mother Earth.) Humanism was often an intermediary step (see Psalm 12:4) and continues to provide an effective tool for banishing God until spiritual hunger draws people to all kinds of pagan, earth-centered alternatives. Romans 1 outlines this timeless slide.
The signs of compromise are multiplying - even in God's churches. Congregations have traded truth for myth and Mother Earth for God our Father. Sunday school curricula teach Native American shamanism and equate the Creator with the Great Spirit. Gay pastors teach spiritual guidelines, and children's pastors teach Bible "truths" through comical skits that mock God.
What we need is truth - the whole truth and nothing but. Yet
Peterson, willing to use words like consecration andantithetical,
refuses to use the word sanctification and deletes "holy
is your name" from the Lord's prayer. How can we cry over
sin and apostasy when the holiness of God is concealed from His Word?
As we face an explosion of false teachings and spiritual substitutes both in churches and in the world around us, we had better be faithful stewards. It's time to awaken all God's people to test, guard and follow the truth our King has committed to us. Therefore,
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does
not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy
2:15
"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ...
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because
they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they
will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But
you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Endnotes:
[1]Author of Newberry winner A Wrinkle in Time and
many other books filled with occult imagery and psychic practices such as kything
- a form of mental telepathy and communication between people, trees
and any other part of creation. Kything is growing in popularity within God's
churches, especially among women.
[2]Sinful nature, a condition dealt with by the cross,
is not the same as "doing what we felt like doing...."
[3]The lawless one is not an Anarchist. He
will despise God's law but enforce plenty of his own laws and regulations.
[4]The New Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New
Testament (Wilmington, Delaware: Associated Publishers & Authors, 1972),
772.
[5]This may sound good but makes me uneasy. This sacredness of
the body and the goal of "becoming one" fits right
into New Age and Neo-pagan views of the physical body and sex. It
seems to me the NIV reference to oneness is a warning that we
not become one with the wrong person (v. 16) - not a standard
for immorality. Nor do commitment and intimacy define
the Biblical boundaries for sex. Whether or not
Peterson intended to use these terms rather than the NIV's prostitute to
define right or wrong sex, it could be easily be understood that way.
[6]Apparently "spiritual" refers
to those who are filled with - and walking in - the spirit, thus ready to allow
God to work through him.
[7]Peterson may not have realized that the title of
his article, "Spirit Quest," is the name given to the Native American
initiation into adulthood. Indian youth still journey into the wilderness to
connect with their guardian spirits or animal spirits. This occult ritual is
promoted in classrooms nationwide and spiritual seekers flock to America's
sacred "power places" (Sedona, Mt. Shasta, Alberta...) in search of
their personal spirit guide. Today, unlike a decade ago, the demonic
personalities respond quickly to the summons - with devastating consequences to
the host. Psychologists in Alberta, Canada, face an explosion of tormenting
"multiple personalities" among gullible spiritual seekers and testify
to acceleration of demonic activity in the area. This is no time to
minimize the power of Satan, the destructiveness of sin, or the
overcoming power of God.
[8]An Introduction to Christian Mysticism, Lectures given at the Abbey of Gethsemani, MS.
(1961), 145. Quoted by Kenneth Leech, Soul Friend (HarperSanFrancisco,
1992), 146.
[15]An expression used often to describe what is
happening in public education, where teaching is geared to the lowest common
denominator.
Labels: Biblical Truth, Heresy Watch, RICK WARREN, Rise Of Apostasy
John Chingford said...
I received a question about "the message"
as a comment to another article. I thought it would be good to copy my answer
here too as it is more applicable here:
The Message is certainly not a reliable bible. In fact it is a paraphrase, ie one person's own translation (using his own new age biassed ideas) of what he believes his bible is saying. It IS NOT a bible (as such) because it is not translated from the original manuscripts.
To read or apply the Message to doctrine is very dangerous because you would be interpreting an interpretation. Jesus was angry with the scribes and pharisees because they were teaching the people from commentaries and NOT direct from the original scriptures. Jesus said that they were blind guides and making children of hell because the people were trusting in the teachers interpretaions rather than the true Word of God. It was because of them that many Jewish people did not recognise the Messiah Jesus.
To trust in the Message is to do exactly the same thing ie trusting in just one person's interpretation rather than trust the original trusted Word Of God.
I have an article with evidence proving that the Message is FALSE and from New Age bias. Please check this link to see the article:
http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/02/showing-why-bible-version-message-is.html
and this link which illustrates how "New Age" the Message is.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/occult-rpg.htm#magic
By the way, New Age comes from the gnostics which came out of old Babylon religion. It has as its god satan but they use miscellaneous names to hide the fact that it is satan. Its very goal is (based on the serpents lie in Eden) that we can become gods and be like God, ie becoming one with satan in trying to reign on Earth.
I hope that helps.
God bless
The Message is certainly not a reliable bible. In fact it is a paraphrase, ie one person's own translation (using his own new age biassed ideas) of what he believes his bible is saying. It IS NOT a bible (as such) because it is not translated from the original manuscripts.
To read or apply the Message to doctrine is very dangerous because you would be interpreting an interpretation. Jesus was angry with the scribes and pharisees because they were teaching the people from commentaries and NOT direct from the original scriptures. Jesus said that they were blind guides and making children of hell because the people were trusting in the teachers interpretaions rather than the true Word of God. It was because of them that many Jewish people did not recognise the Messiah Jesus.
To trust in the Message is to do exactly the same thing ie trusting in just one person's interpretation rather than trust the original trusted Word Of God.
I have an article with evidence proving that the Message is FALSE and from New Age bias. Please check this link to see the article:
http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/02/showing-why-bible-version-message-is.html
and this link which illustrates how "New Age" the Message is.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/occult-rpg.htm#magic
By the way, New Age comes from the gnostics which came out of old Babylon religion. It has as its god satan but they use miscellaneous names to hide the fact that it is satan. Its very goal is (based on the serpents lie in Eden) that we can become gods and be like God, ie becoming one with satan in trying to reign on Earth.
I hope that helps.
God bless
John Chingford said...
Cont.
The underlying purpose of New Age is (like the events surrounding the Tower of Babel) to build a community of "gods" who oppose the ONE true and Living God, but instead unite themselves with another God (satan, Lucifer, the devil)who will give them what their sinful nature wants, but in the end they will face spiritual death.
The underlying purpose of New Age is (like the events surrounding the Tower of Babel) to build a community of "gods" who oppose the ONE true and Living God, but instead unite themselves with another God (satan, Lucifer, the devil)who will give them what their sinful nature wants, but in the end they will face spiritual death.
John Chingford said...
I forgot to add something very important.
The trusted Bibles are very powerful. They are the very words of God.
God loves us so much that He wanted us to know Him and know ABOUT Him. Therefore He went to great lengths in giving us a "handbook of LIFE" the Bible. He did this by (basically) giving clear revelations to a number of authors.
"all scripture is inspired (God breathed) by God ....." 2 Tim 3:16
"the Word of God (the Bible) is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing between soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" Heb 4:12
So having, reading, studying and meditating on the Bible is a very powerful thing. It feeds the soul, empowers us to live for God, teaches us truth, brings us close to God, shows us the way to Heaven etc.
Having said these things, what Bible to use?
Certainly do not use any paraphrase or commentary or any version not translated directly from the original manuscripts, but use trusted translations.
I recommend everybody to have more than one version to use in comparison. The ones I recommend are: King James Version (also known as "authorised version"), New King James Version, New American Standard Version (also known as "New American Standard Bible) and New International Version (1978 or 1984 versions - but not later editions).
God bless you as you study HIS Word
The trusted Bibles are very powerful. They are the very words of God.
God loves us so much that He wanted us to know Him and know ABOUT Him. Therefore He went to great lengths in giving us a "handbook of LIFE" the Bible. He did this by (basically) giving clear revelations to a number of authors.
"all scripture is inspired (God breathed) by God ....." 2 Tim 3:16
"the Word of God (the Bible) is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing between soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" Heb 4:12
So having, reading, studying and meditating on the Bible is a very powerful thing. It feeds the soul, empowers us to live for God, teaches us truth, brings us close to God, shows us the way to Heaven etc.
Having said these things, what Bible to use?
Certainly do not use any paraphrase or commentary or any version not translated directly from the original manuscripts, but use trusted translations.
I recommend everybody to have more than one version to use in comparison. The ones I recommend are: King James Version (also known as "authorised version"), New King James Version, New American Standard Version (also known as "New American Standard Bible) and New International Version (1978 or 1984 versions - but not later editions).
God bless you as you study HIS Word
Anonymous said...
The issue are - (1) How do we educate people not to
buy/use this devil-inspired 'Bible'? (2) How do we stop churches/evangelists using
it? Modern evangelical churches with thousands of members are using this
devilish message in front of them, so it is going to spread like rapid disease.
I personally believe this book is not only blasphemous, but that it came from
the devil via its author to further breakdown Christianity, send people using
it immediately into unforgiveable sin and prevent them from being saved.
Destroying this absolute corruption of the Word must be of high priority for
all genuine Christians and I pray that the Truth opens everyone's eyes a.s.a.p.
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