The Message Ministry Edition (Softcover, Green): The Bible in Contemporary Language

Modern use of language makes the Bible easy to understand without compromising accuracy. The print is a little small.

If your a brand new Bible reader the Message Bible is an excellent choice. You might find the rest of this review a bit much, but will find substantiation for that previous statement if you care to continue. Being a Christian for 34 years and a student of biblical/political history, Greek and Hebrew I'd previously shunned all the "NFG's" (the new-fangled-versions) as I call them, because of reasons that would be a thesis here on it's own. Enter the Message Bible just before Christmas 2017. "Oh," I said to myself, "I'll just read some for the heck of it (since some people in my prayer group, life group, etc read from it way back when) and try to keep my mind from being too judgmental until after one book of the bible," . I read Romans in one sitting: " Well, that was kind-of interesting. Sure sounded different" I said. I purposely did NOT put any of my other bibles next to it and compare them verse by verse in order to give it a fair shake -- to better get a "flavor" rather than conduct a critical review. One of my friends did just that and blasted it for verse after verse translation "deficiencies" as he thought of them. I had a different aim -- and I think it might have been Dr. Peterson's aim from reading (later) the introduction. I then read Hebrews the next day. Hebrews usually takes me at least 5 days to read without skimming because of the language and depth of subject. It only took me one this time. On to Luke, Acts, Galatians, Ephesians, the little Johns and Revelation. I thought, "This is interesting. I'm getting a snapshot view of whole books more easily framed in timeline organizational mind-pictures and I'm walking away with the same overall understanding I already have from my years of study of my "regular versions." So, I just thought I'd start at the beginning - Genesis and read the whole thing through. I'm in Psalms now in mid March and it usually takes me a year for a read-through with individual study in other areas for classes, meetings. etc. While Greek is a language with many differences from English requiring not only a translator with an excellent grasp of the language itself, but also the codex from which he is translating, AND a thorough grounding and communication in/with the Holy Spirit before one can figure out which English word(s) to use for the Greek one(s) and the Greek sentence construction to actually be forming the right thoughts God wants communicated to his children/bride/warriors/ambassadors.That's all hard enough. When the [109-156 depending on sources] writers of the King James undertook the task of the King James bible they prefaced the undertaking with a 40 day fast to make sure their flesh was in subjection, during which several [13-36, again depending on sources] prospective translators dropped out . And we're only talking about the Greek so far as to the translation difficulty. Quadruple that difficulty for Hebrew. The writers doctrinal beliefs WILL shade his/her translations. There's no way around it now. It is just a psychological fact. That's why you must know what any author believes before you know how to read between their lines -- Interlinears, concordances, whole codex translation into Greek or Hebrew texts, textbooks, books, even "fact-novels," commentaries, etc. There was no way around it in political history: even when monk scribes copied under the auspices of their political masters - hence differences in codexes, in phraseology to purport one view or another, missing passages (with spaces deliberately left showing where they were forced to leave it out, etc.) "Good translation" is not just hard because of the original nature of the Greek and Hebrew languages AND because of the nature of the Old Testament writers, but because of what we've been accustomed to read as translations of that NT & OT which attempted to make it majestic because evidently the translators might have thought it would be irreverent to translate more literally since the original language was so often just, sort of ... well, common, inelequent. As if God deserved to be talked about with more befitting reverent-sounding language. Eugene Peterson thought nothing of the kind. He evidently sought to attempt to convey the writers' message (as inspired by the Holy Spirit) in just the sort of uneducated manner in which they spoke it in the first place. I find Peterson's choice of words forming gut feelings that are very much in agreement with the thoughts I form when studying through entire passage groups in preparation for a message to prisoners, or a life group, a men's meeting or writing bible studies. I struggle with sentence structure in my notes - then decide to skip the detail and just jot down short scripture notes and let the Holy Spirit take the lead in giving the lesson to the group. When a recording is available and I listen to it later I find the examples of scripture in action I brought out to "bring it home" to the listeners tended to take the form of many of the phrases that Peterson seems to use. Not word-for-word, but like minded. So, what you have here is a former skeptic of such things as The Message Bible because I saw them as unfaithful to the transliterated Greek or Hebrew word-for word when, in fact the Message Bible is effective at doing what I, myself, under the Holy Spirit's guiding hand was bringing out in my own teaching. That's humbling -- and instructional. If you are a well-seasoned Christian challenge yourself to try the Message Bible on for size without a chip on your shoulder, all the preconceptions and without your other bibles side by side for passage critique until you've read each book through - and maybe not even then. Continue to use your favorite version for your regular word studies, passage studies etc. You still need it. But I think you'll really benefit in using the MB in a way only you will be able to see in hindsight.

So easy to read and understand the Bible.

I use it in Bible study and it is just what I wanted. Print is a bit small but readable.

The Message is a very idiosyncratic rendering of the biblical text by a single writer. There are places where his insights are brilliantly reflected and very helpful. In other places, he seems to go overboard to be contemporary and hip, and it's distracting and weird. A big drawback for me is that the text is quite small and, frankly, I have to strain a bit to read it. He also has chosen not to use standard verse markers, preferring instead to mark off verse ranges in the text, so if you are looking for a particular verse, you have to guess where it starts and ends. The paper is akin to newspaper quality, so be aware of that if it bothers you. All in all, if you like having alternative versions to refer to, this might be a good one to add to your collection. No serious reader, however, should make it his or her primary scriptural text.

Perfect size, gifting.

The Bible has around 790,000 words. More or less. And the Message version is a great read to capture new insights for sure. But the people who put this edition together? Definitely not easy on the eyes. Especially my aging eyes. It's small print. I've no problem with that. But it's printed on gray tone newsprint. Difficult to see and read in many lighting conditions. Would it have been so hard to print it on standard, bright white paper? That way the words would jump out and give the Message accessibility to my eyes and then to my heart. That's my message.

What can you say about a Bible that reads easily and imparts The Message, the Word of God in a contemporary way? Hush all you critics this is a valid translation. I have a family member that does not read well and it also works for him especially as he needs The Word. After years of NAS I was surprised at how much I liked this. Bought it with a Eugene H. Patterson companion devotional "The Promise Book" and have thoroughly enjoyed the two. That said this is a lightweight, easy to carry paperback that has held up being carried around for some time. Pages not too thin and print not too small even for someone who needs low readers like myself. If I need to I can read it without them. If you want to mark it I suggest pencil rather than a pen that might bleed to the other side.

Está muy bien esta biblia, el lenguaje que usa. Pero le pongo 2 pegas: - Letra muy pequeña - No están numerados los versículos uno a uno, sino que a veces los numera por ejemplo: 1-4 y menciona todos esos versículos de golpe, en lugar de 1 ..... 2 ..... 3 .... 4 .... (no sé si me explico: a la hora de buscar un versículo en concreto, quizás tengas dificultades, porque si pone 1-4 y buscas el 2, no sabes exactamente donde empieza el 2 y donde termina, porque no están separados)

Excelente

Muy bien

Even though the letters are quite small, but it would be one of my best books to keep.

Good. Very good . Print is on the small side