Are you studying intently to really understand a text or to teach others? Then use a solid translation like the NASB ESV or ESV.
Are you sitting on the couch for 15 minutes just wanting to sweep through a couple of chapters? The Message is for those times.
For anyone who has ever read Revelations 22:19 they’ll know “The Message” as the heresy that it is.
To the title, “No.”
It’s got a great Rice Crispy Treat recipe. Other than that, it’s a joke!!
It is the Classics Illustrated version, without the illstrations.
I sometimes find Message “cute”.
But John 1:14 takes it to unacceptable levels:
“And the Word became flesh-and-blood, and moved into the neighborhood”.
John did not write his Gospel to sound cutesy-pie; he wrote it to clarify that Jesus was and is, indeed, God. When such a case is being made, injecting such a cavalier style is not called-for.
No. False prophet, wolf-type. Ignore. (The Message sounds stupid anyway)
Eugene Peterson on Changing His Mind About Same-Sex Issues and Marriage
Apostate.
Ironically, another thread could be done where the KJV onlyites show where (they think) the ESV is heretical.
I’ve never used The Message, and the author’s statements don’t change my mind on that.
As has been said, it’s a paraphrase and not a translation. The problem with a paraphrase is that it’s subject to the paraphraser’s interpretation.
I don’t want a man’s interpretation when I read the Bible. I want God’s interpretation.
NO.
The Message is not a translation and should not be used as your primary Bible. However, as a very free paraphrase, it is sometimes powerful and brilliant while at other times it is seriously off target.
That is pretty much my take on The Message. I never use it as a main source but sometimes it gives a fresh perspective or insight on a passage.
Would it be in the same group as the Living Bibles?
There has always been the argument of ‘if not the KJV, which one?’
“The Message” is a very personal and quirky paraphrase of the Bible. It’s not a translation and should not be used as such. I’ve read it through - it’s totally dependent on one man’s opinion and therefore flawed, but it’s OK when read with that in mind. I wouldn’t call it heresy as some do, but don’t call it Scripture either. It’s like the footnotes in a Study Bible - the words were written by some guy, however sincere, and not under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so take it with plenty of salt.