Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
In this contemporary English version of the New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs, Eugene Peterson strives to convey the earthy truths of the original Greek and Hebrew texts. As he explains in his introduction, there were two levels of language in the Greek-speaking world, "formal" and "informal". The one was for use in official documents, epic poetry, and philosophy, the other for shopping lists and personal letters--the common idiom of everyday speech. "This is the language used throughout the New Testament ... a rough and earthy language that reveals God's presence and action where we least expect it, catching us when we are up to our elbows in the soiled ordinariness of our lives and God is the furthest thing from our minds."
It is in the spirit of this "soiled ordinariness" that Eugene Peterson translates John 1:14 (NIV: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us") to "The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood." Likewise, in Romans 8:3 where the NIV renders "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering," The Message reads, "God went for the jugular when he sent his own son.... In his son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all." Peterson offers no pretense of elevated language or intellectualism, only the insistence that God is relevant in 20th-century work-week and weekend lives.
This kind of translation is not a new enterprise, however. Tyndale--the man singularly responsible for our English translations of the Bible--is purported to have said in a dispute with opposing clergy, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost." We're simply glad someone of our own generation chose to do the same. --Benjamin Gebhardt
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Inspiring Book
Customer Rating:
"The Message" is a version of the Bible written in terms used today. It's much easier to understand than the original version and my family finds it inspiring!
Message Bible
Customer Rating:
I was a little sceptical at first because the price was so great but the Bible truly is like new. The shipper mailed it right away and I had it within a few days of my purchase. I would definitely use Amazon.com again and highly recommmend it for anyone else wanting a fantastic deal.
The Message
Customer Rating:
This is an excellent way to get a clearer understanding of scripture while still staying true to God's word. Good book to buy as a gift also.
Great King James Backup
Customer Rating:
As a reader of the King James I sometimes find it hard to really understand the scripture; by going to the Message Bible I can read the scriptures in todays language that gives me a clearer picture of what the scripture means. One of the many good backups to the King James. I among many wish the print was a little larger.
I Prefer the non numbered version, but still great!!!!!
Customer Rating:
The Message: The Bible In Contemporary Language, Large Print Numbered Edition I love "The Message Bible" I do prefer the original none numbered version, because it showed that it wasn't made as a study Bible. The Message Bible Version is Great, enjoyably, and educational. but not Really made as a study bible. But instead is written in such a way that it draws great word pictures, it was made for explaining the bible in a more fun and leisurely way, like enjoying the word of God in say, a Park setting, or on the beach and the like. the translation though does not go "off" on the meaning of the Bible. Defiantly one of my favorite versions, but for a study or apologetic version I would recommend the "New King James", "NIV" or the "Authorized King James" Versions.... The message is absolutely wonderful.... Blessings to you all, Mike Orton
Select button not working? 
