“The Message” Bible

Do keep in mind that the following information is simply a brief personal assessment of The Message.  WELS does not have an official list of recommended Bible translations.

That being said, The Message is a paraphrase, not what would be understood as a translation.  While a translation can contain the biases of the translators, that can happen even more with a paraphrase.  It is very easy for the person doing the paraphrasing to incorporate into the finished product ideas and shadings that reflect the person’s own faith.  When we understand that The Message is a paraphrase by a (now retired) Presbyterian pastor, we will be interested to see if historic Presbyterian doctrines find their way into his paraphrase.

And so, does his paraphrase indicate consistently that the Lord’s Supper is a holy meal in which Jesus’ body and blood are present in, with and under the bread and wine?  He renders 1 Corinthians 11:26-27 (“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.”) this way:  “What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.  Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death.  Is that the kind of “remembrance” you want to be part of?”  I do not see the real presence of the Lord’s body and blood in that paraphrase.

Again, thinking of historic Presbyterian doctrines, does his paraphrase indicate that people really can fall away from the faith?  Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower teaches:  “Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away” (Luke 8:13).  The Message turns the truth of that verse into this:  “The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone.”  “Enthusiasm?”  “Fad?”  Or faith?  Faith that is lost?  1 Timothy 1:19-20 speaks of people who “have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith,” who have abandoned the truth.  The Message says those people “made a thorough mess of their faith.”

Beyond these two items, here are a couple of other concerns.  Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches beautifully that salvation, including the gift of faith that joins us to Jesus and brings us salvation, is entirely God’s doing.  The Message says:  “Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. [My emphasis] It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role.”  Titus 3:5-6 “[God] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” becomes “He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit.”  Time constraints prevent me from sharing more examples where this paraphrase falls short of reliable Bible translations.

People using The Message will need to understand that it is a paraphrase—a retelling of what is in the original Bible languages from the viewpoint of the author.  If it is going to be used, it is safest to have a reliable translation alongside it.