The Voice: A New Bible For The New Age

I like to notify people when I link to them. I linked to you in my Review of The Voice translation

Is this a new translation? Where can I obtain a copy to see if if it’s a crummy translation or not? This is the first heard of this new Bible. Let’s treat Christians like adults and trust them to test all things and hold fast to that which is good.

Christians are bashing each other over what their favorite Bible is.

Let the reader take note: The King James Bible was rejected by the Protestant Conservatives (the Puritans) for being too Catholic in its language and teaching. The Church of England which gave us the KJV is a catholic church !!!

I have a copy of this “Bible” which claims to be a dynamic translation and I’ve got to say that it completely mangles and distorts God’s word.

The Voice is such a bad ‘translation’ that it makes the Message paraphrase sound like a word for word translation.

I spent time working through important passages of scripture in The Voice on my radio program. Please check it and and sound the alarm bell. The Voice is not giving people the real voice of God but a ‘different’ voice.

http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2008/11/the-new-emergent-translation-of-the-bible.html

I’m sorry to see so much judgment in this blog post. Whether or not it’s true, the attitude seems very judgmental and doesn’t help the attitude the world has of Christians today. Jesus wasn’t judgmental, except towards corrupt church leadership. He was forgiving and full of grace. The first commandment we are called to do is to love, and I would like to gently remind everyone here about that.

I attend Ecclesia myself. I felt called there. The first time I went there I felt uneasy. I pre-judged it. I thought it had too much catholic leanings to make me feel comfortable. So I left. Then God kept putting more and more people in my life who went there. I kept returning over and over. Then new people entered my life who wanted to go to church. The first church they wanted to try was Ecclesia. And I gave it another try because it seemed that God was truly pushing me there. And I find that it’s one of my favorite churches. Not because I can wake up late and walk there from my home. Not because it’s contemporary. Not because a Christian Rock Star (Robby Seay) is the Musical leader. Not because it’s relaxed and I can wear a T-Shirt. I like it because at the end of the day, the leadership truly cares about the faith of mankind, how we relate to one another, and that we Love God. I have been to many many churches in my years, but no church has shown me so much fruit production as this one. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

I don’t like The Voice either much, but if someone receives any encouragement, if they are incapable of receiving wisdom from other translations, as long as it preaches the truth of The Gospel, then it can only be good. If one soul is saved, then the version is worthy. What is The Gospel? It can be summed up in The Greatest Commandment, which Jesus gave. The Voice translates it just as well as the King James version does.

While they read out of The Voice in church, I pull out my bible and read from my version so I can be sure that they are teaching truth. I prefer to use multiple versions when I study. Just to make sure. So far as I have been able to discern in the services, The Voice has been very modern in its language, but it hasn’t been inaccurate so far. If you haven’t ever been to one of Ecclesia’s services, it would be unfair to judge their heart without knowing. The speakers do know a lot about the original texts. In their sermons they often use the original words, translate them and explain how they are used in The Word. And they always edify me.

I may not like The Voice, but I do not think that those who wrote it are corrupted. I think a lot of good will come out of the translation.

Friends, In my 59 Years I have read a lot of Bible… I don’t consider myself an expert just a man on a journey. I like this translation. It does not weaken my faith. I have never been a big fan of the King James……But I know Folks who love it I can respect their love….. but they will never win me over. If people people pick up the Voice and find their way. I won’t complain. I like the way it is set, I like the boxes. I like the Questions raised. It works for me!

“When you went out into the wilderness to see John, what were you expecting? A reed shaking in the wind? What were you looking for? A man in expensive clothing? Look, if you were looking for fancy clothes and luxurious living, you went to the wrong place-you should have gone to the kings court, not to the wilderness!….” (Luke)

I do enjoy this wilderness….. Go to the Voice site and download John…. You may find it a gift, if not you lose a few sheets of paper…..Blessings in any case,

Houston,

Thanks for your feedback.

First off, your critique of my “blog report” is not accurate, it is not a report, just a simple warning, and the warning stands as written. As far as your “highly reputable scholars” are concerned that may very well be one of the reasons to beware. Not that scholarship is bad, in and of itself, but scholarship, degrees, or academic fame are no guarantee that corruption, even intentional corruption, has not occurred. After all, we know that Rick Warren is not above cherry picking verses at his leisure to manipulate his undiscerning flock.

My immediate take from reading “John” is that, to these men, understanding what God is saying is not as important as understanding their message in a certain way, that agrees with the particular bent of those “men” who are doing the re-writing. Also, having scholars who are influenced by artists is not good. It is kind of like a plastic surgeon who, at the mercy of the paying customer, changes their appearance, and only he knows that the truth lies hidden underneath the “artwork;” as the saying goes, “only their hairdresser knows for sure,” but to those lacking insight and understanding, the man on the street, it is the essence of pure beauty and truth. To reason that there is no harm done to the original and that it is essentially the same Bible or person, with only a cut here, a stretch there, a tuck somewhere else, an insertion where needed, and a deletion of unwanted excess, is a fantasy and a lie. Of course the plastic surgeon does this with the idea of getting rewarded, and it is easy to see how corruption or leaven sneaks in. Should we assume all purity of motive? Not if you know these characters.

You say that Brian Mclaren and Chris Seay are not scholars, but aren’t their fingerprints are all over this production? You say this is not important, and that they do not have to be scholars, and you are probably correct, if they hold the purse strings, or they are the final authority and the leaders of a growing organization. Most men and scholars salivate at such opportunities to market their fame. I’m not as concerned with scholarship as knowing who the scholars work for and their motivation. As I said, scholarship really means very little and may very well be one of the main problems. Scholars are men, and men have motives and agendas, and love rewards. The continual re-writing of the Bible over the centuries, especially the last century, in my opinion has done nothing but dirty the waters so that the understanding of Holy Scriptures is corrupted, way beyond what God originally intended, but this also is predicted in the very Book that is being corrupted. The Living Water these men profess to be providing has been contaminated by their scholarship.

You asked me to not cast “The Voice” aside as “ just another thing from those emerging heretics” before I “check it out.” It seems that everything that anyone has or says should be “checked out” before a judgment is made. Is this true? Can we make judgments based on past evidence? I have checked out the free Gospel of John and my warning stands firm. I never read the whole thing, it wasn’t necessary. I really wouldn’t have even needed to read any of it to pass a judgment. I hear this all the time, especially from the world, but increasingly from “Christians,” that unless we sample a particular thing that we can have no idea what it is about, and therefore cannot judge its worth. We are told by many that we should learn from experience that a thing is bad or can harm us, is this true? No, it is not true. That nonsense is the result of eating from the wrong tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, instead of the tree of Life. That kind of knowledge suggest that you can get close to a trash fire and not smell like smoke. Granted some things are easy to figure out, like judging a man who smells like marijuana and wearing a tee shirt with a picture of a marijuana leaf on it; the man can be safely judged to be a user. Other things are more difficult like the Catholic Priest or Minister who is a pedophile. But, most things can be discovered and even assumed with just a little knowledge, like those who are promoting this “New” version of Holy Scripture. You see we know Brian McLaren and Chris Seay through the things they have written, and the people they endorse, and the writings they applaud. This is why I warn people away from this new “translation.” I don’t know all about these men, but I know enough to know that they have an agenda that does not follow the truth. We make these kinds of judgments all the time. We judge who we want our children to play with, without ever knowing the other child well, or their parents. The whole world judged Hitler and Mussolini based on their knowledge of right and wrong and Christians need to judge those who profess to have this new knowledge that is not based on truth.

I admit that traditional Church is wrong, but doing church differently or rebelling against the established church system like a throwback to the sixties is no better. It does appeal to the flesh, but it is likewise wrong.

There is no question that we need to go back to an ancient model of what Church is, but it cannot stop with the desert fathers, rituals, liturgies, creeds, or Constantine, or a continual re-writing of the Bible, we must go all the way back to the foundation and do a lot of house cleaning. Jesus’ command was go back and do our first works over again, unless He come and removes our candlestick. When we look at the mess the “Church” has gotten itself into I think it is fair to assume that He was not bluffing.

The answers to all our questions are not in the Institutional, Emerging, or Mega Church, or new translations of the Bible that have flesh appeal. All the answers lay buried under centuries of Babylonian religious refuse, that until removed, blocks the way for many who think they are on the road to the Celestial City.

The Voice Bible translation is just one more project of the religious hobbyist trying to produce something in his own image to make a name for himself.

Steve Blackwell

Anthony,

You said:

“No offense to the readership of this article, but how can we stand in judgment of a work that has not yet been published or even READ by the reviewer?”

No offense to the readership of the previous comment, but everyone makes judgments based on known information surrounding a particular product we contemplate purchasing. We “can” know what to expect, without ever dropping a dime to find out, because we most likely already know. Las Vegas has paved the streets in gold with the money taken from suckers who needed to find out first hand what they had already been told many, many, times. We can know, and we can judge, because we know these men and what they have given us before, and since a “leopard cannot change its spots” we don’t need to find out first hand. If Hitler wrote a Bible translation could you pre-judge it? I think the answer is obviously, YES! The odds are that what these men will give us will be no different than what they have given us before, and for the discerning Christian the warning stands: BEWARE!

You said,

“Secondly, there are several types of Bible translations, such as literal, free, or dynamic. Just because this version may not be literal, it should not be discounted as a legitimate version.”

Secondly: Just because someone decides to give us a “new” take on the Bible does not legitimize the effort. We all have our hidden agendas that we try to persuade upon the world and most are of no consequence, but others are of great consequence. These men of the Emerging mentality have a powerful agenda behind this work. It is my contention that these men are deceived, and that they have the power and resources to impose this deception on the unwary. Christians today are confused by the tons of theological error that they have become heir to, and the timing is right for a sweeping deception to produce a great harvest for the enemy. In a time when we should be on alert for anything “new” that appears on the horizon, we are encouraged to embrace even the lamest of tricks handed to us in the name of Christ.

You said,

“I have never seen Chris Seay water down the gospel, but have seen it presented it in ways that would honor Christ, our Liberating King.”

AS far as honoring Christ, I don’t think the institutional church knows what it is to dishonor Christ, nor do they really care. The church has linked hands with the world in so many ways that virtually anything they do, they consider honorable, as long as they invoke the name of Jesus over it. The leaven of the world has so infiltrated the fabric of the modern Christian life that everything can be justified if the end result produces, hopefully, good results, regardless of the means.

You said,

“Besides, any Bible written in English is subject to interpretation and translation as the true Bible exists in its original languages of Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and some Targum.”

Your last sentence stating that the Bible was written in “Targum” is inaccurate. Unless I am mistaken, Targum is not a language, it is itself a translation. Targum is the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible.

It is not my intention to fight a battle at this point, but it is my intention to warn people of the deception and apostasy that is sweeping the country and world and that this “new” translation is something that should be avoided. Christians today want their Bible to read like a novel and they can be swept off the narrow way by the wind coming from our new modern day sophist. They want to understand what the Scriptures say but fail to go to the One who has the correct interpretation, and instead go to mere men who tickle their ears and entertain.

In the end each man or woman must choose who he or she will trust to have the truth of what is happening in the world today, and this is only my two cents worth, but I have also warned people of the uselessness of trying to win big in Vegas, without success.

Steve Blackwell

I think we can, at least partially, blame these types of “interpretive” books of the Bible on the success of Eugene Peterson’s “The Message”. McLaren is NOT a biblical scholar; at least not the kind we’d expect to have a good, unprejudiced approach to the Bible. The rest of the scholar/author team is very questionable, especially Sweet who would be the closest thing, I think to a real scholar.

I don’t know how anyone can market, in good conscience either this or Peterson’s work as a translation. Neither are anything but commentary with a Bible format.