The Message Bible

[Sam]

Just wondering what y'all thought of The Message Bible.

[tv1a]

It's my favorite translation. Especially Galatians.

[crakjak]

Originally Posted by Sam

Just wondering what y'all thought of The Message Bible.

I love it, read Col. chapter 1&2 this morning, what is your opinion, Sam?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by crakjak

I love it, read Col. chapter 1&2 this morning, what is your opinion, Sam?

Well, I'm old. I'm 72 now and have been reading the KJV for over half a century. When I first got saved in 1955 all we had was KJV, ASV, Moffatt, and RSV. The RSV came out in the fifties and caused quite a stir. Fundamentalists or Conservatives were against it because it did not use the word "virgin" in Isaiah 7:14. Also, it dropped 1 John 5:7 and questioned some of the verses in Mark 16. I remember seeing a picture of one preacher holding a RSV in one hand and a blow torch in the other and saying, "It's like the devil --hard to burn." Another preacher threw a copy of the RSV into a tub of lye on his platform to show his feelings toward it. At the Baptist church where I attended we used the KJV (the pastor and many others used the Scofield edition) and would not even consider the RSV.

Over the years I've seen a plethora of Bible versions come on the scene. I used to be pretty much KJV only but I am not that way now. I think I have just about every version available. Years ago I was against The Living Bible (TLB) because it was a paraphrase instead of a translation. Later I learned how the publisher of TLB developed it and how people were saved and helped by it. I also realized that all translations contain a certain amount of paraphrasing in them. I like TLB now and have several around --including a RCC version (which I've preached from and carried to hospital calls with me) with the Apocrypha and a TBN Bible which has parallel KJV and TLB (which I read quite often and have used for teaching).

The Message is, in my opinion, a newer version which is like the TLB of a few years ago. The author has tried to make it relevant and to be in a common vernacular. I think some times that has been carried a little far. I've read a lot of The Message New Testament. I actually like the Message.

My favorite is still the KJV but that may be an age thing.

[Sam]

A few years ago some pastors and ministers got together here in the Cincinnati area to bring in a preacher from Brownsville, FL for a large city wide meeting. There were some meetings of ministers and pastors to discuss the plans etc prior to the meeting. At one of those meetings there was a little bit of discussion about the Message and one pastor told us that for his Sunday morning sermon the previous week he just read the book of Colossians from The Message. I thought that sounded like a first century Christian meeting where an epistle from one of the apostles might be read publicly.

[Sam]

A few years ago Sis. Nona Freeman preached for several nights at a nearby ALJC church where my brother-in-law was going at the time. He talked about the messages that Sis. Freeman preached and when they were available I got DVD copies and my wife and I watched them on our monitor.

Sis. Freeman had a habit of reading the Bible through at least once a year. Some years she would read it in a version different than KJV. On one of those DVD's she mentioned that she had read The Message that year. I don't remember what passage she was talking about in her sermon but she said she never really understood it until she had read it in The Message. I thought, well, if The Message is good enough for Sis. Freeman it's good enough for me.

[Digging4Truth]

I enjoy the message but I couldn't find scriptures that came to my mind if I didn't remember the actual location because I know all the scriptures I know are memorized from the KJV. I use the KJV to study and when I would like to take a look at other versions to see how they translated it The Message is among my top versions to consult.

I know my Bible in KJV so that is my main study version. I use other versions to help shed some light on things etc. I might use a quote from another version during my preaching but my scriptural references etc will always come first from KJV. Not because I feel it would be wrong to use another version for scriptural references... but because I feel that this is what would serve best for me and for the vast majority of those who would be listening.

[Sam]

Years ago people brought their Bibles to church with them and when the preacher preached he read from the Bible and people opened their Bibles and followed along. We all had KJV Bibles back then. Now most people don't bring their Bible to church because the Scriptures are shown on an overhead and people use different versions of the Bible so theirs probably wouldn't read the same way the overhead does.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Sam

Years ago people brought their Bibles to church with them and when the preacher preached he read from the Bible and people opened their Bibles and followed along. We all had KJV Bibles back then. Now most people don't bring their Bible to church because the Scriptures are shown on an overhead and people use different versions of the Bible so theirs probably wouldn't read the same way the overhead does.

Years ago people used lots of scripture because they were teaching the Bible. These days there is a scripture or two used to lay the ground work for what they want to say.

There isn't a lot of real teaching going on these days. At least from what I've seen.

[crakjak]

Our pastor, at Lake Highlands Church is a personal friend of Eugene Peterson of the Message. He uses "The Message", but not even a majority of the time, in his preaching and teaching. I believe it is best to have a very good working knowledge of the KJV or ESV, then I believe The Message, the NLB, TGNB are great assets to our study and meditation.