My Serious Concerns About the Passion Translation
Translation method
The word, “translation” means taking one piece of writing from one language to another, as accurately as humanly possible. That is how all our Bibles are made – they are a product of Hebrew & Greek the original languages. If you were to trace the origin of the NIV, for example, you would find a committee of men trained in linguistics, working tirelessly, attempting to convey what the original Bible said into the English language, while maintaining readability. Now, do you want to know how the TPT came into existence? A man called Brian Simmons had a spiritual encounter with Jesus, a vision sort of, where he met an angel called Passion, from which he downloaded “new revelation” to make a Bible translation called the Passion Translation. According to Pastor Simmons, God gave him “new secrets about Greek and Hebrew”, something that previous Bible translators had no knowledge of all along. The final answer, therefore, is that the Passion Bible is as good as Brian’s angelic vision. I cannot speak on your behalf, but what I know is that I will never, in a million years, trust any information that comes from someone’s vision of angels. I have gone that path before and it has always ended in tears. Worse, when that person produces a Bible version based on such suspicious spiritual practices.
It is different
Just like the Message Bible, the Passion Translation, when compared to the other Bible versions, is very different – concerningly so. Here is the evidence below.
ESV – John 15:2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
NIV– John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful
TPT – John 15:2 He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches. As the wise and loving farmer, he lifts them up off the ground to enhance their growth, and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest.
Notice that the subject matter is about two branches, one bears fruit and the other is fruitless. All other Scripture versions agree that “every branch that does not bear fruit He cuts off, or take them away.” But the Passion translation disagrees! Instead, it says that “he cares for fruitless branches by lifting them up and propping them up.” What is that?
Here is another one…
ESV – 1 Timothy 2:11-12 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
NIV – 1 Timothy 2:11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
KJV – 1 Timothy 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
TPT – 1 Timothy 2:11 Let the women who are new converts be willing to learn with all submission to their leaders and not speak out of turn. I don’t advocate that the newly converted women be the teachers in the church, assuming authority over the men, but to live in peace.
Now we can debate about the application of this verse when it comes to the roles of women in the church. Yet I don’t think there is any doubt as to what it really says as you read it. The wording is consistent across all Bible versions, except for the cleaver Passion Bible. That phrase, “who are new converts,” is found nowhere in any Greek manuscript, or anywhere else. It seems to me that Mr. Simmons worked overtime to deliberately change Scripture to fit his pre-conceived ideology. You can’t make this up.
Now here is my last one…
ESV – Ephesians 6:9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
TPT – Ephesians 6:9 And to the caretakers of the flock I say, do what is right with your people by forgiving them when they offend you, for you know there is a Master in heaven that shows no favoritism.
The verse, and the whole context, is talking about Masters; those who are in charge of workers, what we call bosses and managers and supervisors. Yet Pastor Brian has changed this entirely to mean “caretakers of the flock, do what is right…by forgiving them.” I mean, where did he get that?
Here are my final words: beloved, it is not my position to undermine your convictions about any Bible version, yet it is my ministry duty to teach you the truth, and also to point out to you where there is error. And guess what? You are free to do your own investigation about this. In my honest opinion, the Passion Translation is worse than the Jehovah Witnesses Bible. There are just too many changes. And also, I vehemently reject this idea that we have to change the Bible so that it may “sound relevant to the modern culture.” Because culture is ever changing, we will have to keep doing the same to God’s word, until we are left with an entirely different thing altogether. Here is the fact: God’s people deserve to hear God speak the way He spoke to the New Testament church. And there is also a difference between changing the readability and changing the meaning of the Text. For example, versions like the NLT, NIV GNB all try to use modern words, yet the meaning is still contextually the same as the KJV or ESV. Yet the Passion publication actually changes the meaning of the whole passage altogether. That is not only dangerous, but it is deceptive.
Hear my good advice: shun Mr. Simmons’ book. Just avoid it. Throw it into the dustbin. I leave you with the words from a good minister, “(the) TPT is not a Bible, and any church that treats it as such and receives it as canon will, by that very action, turn itself into an unorthodox sect. If the translation had been packaged as a commentary on Scripture, I would not have needed to write this review; but to package it as Scripture is an offence against God. Every believer who is taught to treat it as the enscripturated words of God is in spiritual danger…”
Sinothi Ncube
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