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We're re-publishing this
article in answer to a reader's question about
the authenticity of
The Message.
This is the eighth in a series of articles about
the Purpose-Driven Church movement.
The "Bible" most often used by Rick Warren and
others in the movement is The Message, a
radical paraphrase written by a liberal apostate
that is nothing like a faithful translation of
God's inspired Word. The Message openly
promotes the Purpose-Driven agenda.
Biblical Illiteracy
The
Purpose-Driven Church movement encourages
Biblical illiteracy. We saw this previously as
we
answered the question,
"What is the Purpose-Driven approach to
preaching?" But the movement also encourages
Biblical illiteracy through the use and
promotion of Bible versions that are not
faithful translations of the Word of God, but
man-centered paraphrases.
The Message
The one used most often by
Rick Warren and others in the movement is The Message.1
The author of this Bible paraphrase is Eugene H.
Petersen, who was for thirty years a pastor in
the liberal Presbyterian Church, USA. Petersen's
own attitude toward Scripture is that
"Christians...should be studying [the Bible]
less, not more. You just need enough to pay
attention to God."2
Since this
certainly reflects the attitude of the
Purpose-Driven Church movement, it is no wonder
its leaders should be comfortable, even
enthusiastic, about The Message. Compare, for example, these passages in
the New
King James Bible and in The Message.
"He who believes in the Son has everlasting
life; and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides
on him.” (John 3:36, NKJV)
"Whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on
everything, life complete and forever!
And that is also why the person
who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark
and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God
is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."
(John
3:36, The Message)
"My Father is greater than I."
(John 14:28, NKJV)
"The Father is the
goal and purpose
of my life." (John 14:28, The Message)
"You will keep him
in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on You, because he
trusts in You."
(Isaiah 26:3, NKJV)
"You, Lord, give
perfect peace to those who
keep their
purpose firm and put their trust in you."
(Isaiah 26:3, The Message)
"For to be
carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6, NKJV)
"Obsession with
self in these matters is a dead end; attention
to God leads us out into the open, into a
spacious, free life." (Romans 8:6, The
Message)
"Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be Your name." (Matthew 6:9,
NKJV)
"Our Father in
heaven, reveal who you are." (Matthew 6:9,
The Message)
"The hour is
coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for
the Father is seeking such to worship Him." (John
4:23, NKJV)
"That's the kind
of people the Father is out looking for: those
who are simply
and honestly
themselves before him in their worship."
(John
4:23, The Message)
And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,
you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31, NKJV)
"Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then
you'll live as you were meant to live — and
everyone in your house included!" (Acts
16:30-31, The Message)
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness,
in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their
bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth
of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up
to vile passions. For even their women exchanged
the natural use for what is against nature.
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use
of the woman, burned in their lust for one
another, men with men committing what is
shameful, and receiving in themselves the
penalty of their error which was due. (Romans
1:24-27, NKJV)
So God said, in effect, "If that's what you
want, that's what you get." It wasn't long
before they were living in a pigpen, smeared
with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this
because they traded the true God for a fake god,
and worshiped the god they made instead of the
God who made them—the God we bless, the God who
blesses us. Oh, yes! 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,
they abused 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
wretches. (Romans 1:24-27, The Message)
Now then, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s
behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him. (2
Corinthians 5:20-21, NKJV)
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. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong
on him who never did anything wrong, so we could
be put right with God. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21,
The Message)
As even these few
passages demonstrate, the favored Bible version
of the Purpose-Driven Church movement thoroughly
supports its philosophy and theology. It
presents a false gospel; a false view of Jesus
Christ Himself; a false view of man in need of
"purpose" rather than salvation from sin; a
psychological rather than spiritual
"sanctification"; and a man-centered,
self-centered, view of worship.
Authentic Christianity in Contrast
Next in this
series, we'll deal with this
question: "What are the fruits of the
Purpose-Driven Church?"
Recommended Resources
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References:
-
Eugene H. Petersen, The Message: The
Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado
Springs, Colorado: NavPress Publishing
Group, 1993-2002).
-
Michael J. Cusik, "A Conversation With
Eugene Petersen," Mars Hill Review,
Issue number 3, Fall 1995, pages 73-90, as
reproduced at
http://www.leaderu.com/marshill/mhr03/peter1.html
and viewed on 10/6/2008.
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