I was going to write on KJV Onlyism, and probably still will. (I have nothing against the KJV and the KJV Onlyism, except the Onlyists uses the word "Only" way too much.) So while looking up the KJV Onlyist's assertions I found them to be not groundless or sensationalized but a little exaggerated... then I looked at the Message. Oh sweet Lord in Heaven... we can only pray for those poor souls that actually read the message and think they're reading the Bible. We also need to pray that those who are preaching out of the Message will repent, seek forgiveness, and help those souls that they mislead.
So lets get into this mess. As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is the one and true son of God, not a spirit child of some ancient astronaut, not a created being like you or I, definitely not a sinner, and most definitely not a vacuous "idea man" concept but the human embodiment of God Himself, the living Son of God, and the sinless man all in one. We get the truth of Jesus' nature from the scriptures which in fact are simply Jesus' autobiography. One of the most important quotes from the bible that reveals just who and what Jesus is, is found in John 10:30
"I and the Father are one.”
In the Message bible this becomes
"I and the Father are one heart and mind.”
Don't bother to defend Eugene Peterson's choice of wording, the words of the real bible and what Peterson put in the Message do not mean the same thing. The English language hasn't devolved so far that people can't understand "I and the Father are one" so no cute, trite cliched 'one heart and mind' is needed. The real bible shows that Jesus is God, the Message shows that Jesus and God agree on everything but are not one.
I know lots of people that agree with God, does that make them the Son of God? Hardly. And don't you think Eugene Peterson, the inventor of The Message perVersion, knows that? Let's look at John 1:14
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
'The Word' of course is Jesus, and here John is saying that Jesus is God's only begotten son, begotten meaning "only son" and the original Greek wording used μονογενής (monogenes) means flat out "only true genetic son, no other sons, no other explanation possible" However in the Message Peterson gets down with his bad self:
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
"Like Father, Like Son" yet again another cheap cheesy cliche in place of the word of God. "Begotten from the Father" does not mean "like father like son" it's a flat out declaration that Jesus is the son of God, where "like father like son" is trite, nearly meaningless, and only implies relationship.
Along with twisting Jesus' relationship with God, Peterson twists Jesus relationship with us. The word "Lord" appears 7970 times in the King James Version, more than any other noun. In fact this is God's name, in Hebrew it's Yahweh. In the Message the word Lord appears 71 times. In the bible the Greek word kurios is used meaning Lord. It means a person exercising absolute ownership rights, (Now you know why Paul considered himself a slave to Jesus) while the word master (which only appears 195 times in the KJV) means supervisor. This is no accident, Peterson deliberately demoted Jesus from supreme being, our owner, to just another guy on the assembly line that happens to have the foreman's ear.
If you don't think this is significant, think again. Judas never called Jesus 'Lord', he always addressed Jesus as "Master". Thirteen times the Bible states that Judas betrayed Jesus, the bible clearly states that Judas was possessed of Satan (Luke 22:3), Jesus Christ called Judas "a devil" (John 6:70) and the son of perdition (John 17:12) which is also the title of the antichrist in 2 Thess 2:3) and in Acts hell is described as Judas' own place (Acts 1:25) By refusing to call Jesus "Lord" Peterson has placed himself in the same class as Judas, and possibly for the same reasons.
The very worst part is that when he absolutely needs to call Jesus Christ "Lord" Peterson can't do it.
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)
You'd figure that this once, just this once, Peterson would get it right. Nope:
For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say “Jesus be damned!” Nor would anyone be inclined to say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.
He can't say it! He cannot declare Jesus is Lord! Here you have clear documented proof that The Message is not inspired by the Holy Spirit, so why isn't this heresy being lambasted from the pulpits of a hundred thousand churches? Why are we letting our kids, our brothers and sisters read this slop? And what happens when the rubber meets the road? If the Holy Spirit can't get Peterson to call Jesus "Lord" what happens when Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.Peterson changed that for the goats reading the Message:
Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
The Bible: when you accept deep in your heart that Jesus is your Lord, your owner, and that you are His slave and if you confess it aloud you will be saved.
The Message: You're not doing anything, it's just words, no biggie. You don't even have to say the magic words, you just have to say that you said them! and God snaps to, gives you a hearty "Aye Aye Sir!" and saves you. No fuss, no muss, and no unsightly commitment on your part. Cool eh?
Every time I read more of The Message I feel so unclean...
Hi, Doug. Well said, and shame on me for not reading more of your posts.
ReplyDeleteI wondered what you think of different denominations denying communion to "outsiders"?
Best,
Rob
Thanks for joining here Rob, I hope you can find something of value here.
DeleteAs for denying communion to "outsiders" who is an outsider? Obviously that would be a pagan, atheist, or satanist as they are outside the church (as defined by Ephesians 5:25) However if by outsider you mean someone of a different denomination, why should they be denied? If that kind of "outsider" be denied communion I believe the entire congregation should get up and walk out of the building for Christ is not there.
My reasoning:
The definition of Communion is "The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, esp. when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level." And that's exactly what communion is: the most intimate form of prayer possible, the very closest we can come to Christ while still here on this rock. Can a mere mortal be so powerful to come between you and Christ just because the church you go to allows bluejeans and his doesn't? That's real arrogance.
The bible clearly states that only time you can't take communion is if you take it in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:27) which is understood to mean to accept communion while you have a problem with another Christian with whom you are not reconciled. There's a great article at:
http://carm.org/questions/about-church/what-does-it-mean-take-communion-unworthy-manner
However unless it's a pretty blatant problem, that's not a decision for another man to make for me, that's between me and my Lord, not Pastor Brimstone, not Father Lovejoy, not Minister Slaphappy, not Reverend Gluesniffer. Just Me and God. I am a lowlife pathetic sinner, I've broken every single commandment multiple times, but instead of squashing me like a bug like I deserve Jesus adopted me as his brother, forgave me, and is waiting for me to join him. And these people think they can stand between me and God? In the words of the great American philosopher, Buggs Bunny, "It is to laugh."
What is so hard for these people to understand: church is NOT a museum of saints, it's a hospital for sinners, and to deny someone communion is denying them the medicine they need.
... well, you did ask for my thoughts.
More on The Message.
ReplyDeleteJohn
http://mywordlikefire.com/2011/05/30/the-message-bible-inserts-earth-reverence-god-of-green-hope/