Book Review

The Message - The New Testament in Contemporary Language
by Eugene H. Peterson

This book is a "translation" of the New Testament in modern English, it is almost translated the way someone would talk to their friends.

This is a special edition for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Throughout the book there are thoughts from Billy Graham about a particular topic, usually something that is discussed in that part of Scripture. Each book of the Bible also has a brief introduction. This book was easy to read, almost like a normal paperback book. The font size was just right.

I enjoyed reading this translation. However, I would not recommend it to the new student of the Bible. In my opinion, this version loses to much of the original wording, especially for some of the theological issues.

There were some interesting insights that Peterson translates, especially some of the parables of Christ. However, I did not like the way Peterson translated other says of Christ, especially some of the "I am" statements ("I am the road!").

Overall, I would recommend reading this book only after you are familiar with a good, accurate translation of the Word of God.




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