June 2020 – The River of Life

Brian Simmons, along with BroadStreet Publishing, claimed in early editions of the so-called ‘Passion Translation bible’, that he had ‘translated directly’ from the original text. For example, The Psalms: Poetry on Fire (2015) was said to have been ‘translated directly from the original Hebrew text’:

Likewise, the first edition of ‘Letters from Heaven by the Apostle Paul’ (2014) was claimed to have been translated ‘directly’ from the ‘original Greek and Aramaic texts’ by Simmons:

as was the first edition of Romans: Grace and Glory (2015):

raising first of all a question of logic:

How can a single letter from Paul have both ‘original’ Greek texts and ‘original’ Aramaic texts? Surely he must have written Romans in either one language or the other?

Continue reading The Passion [Anti-]Translation: was Brian Simmons really translating from the Syriac Peshitta?

I was alarmed recently to find a quotation from Brian Simmons’ so-called ‘Passion Translation’ on the home page of Kensington Temple, one of England’s larger and more prominent churches. Moreover, the web-site for the ‘Passion Translation’ carries endorsements from many well-known ministers in the United States and elsewhere, including Lou Engle, Chuck Pierce, Bill Johnson, Wesley and Stacey Campbell, James Goll, John Bevere, Patricia King, and Bobbie Houston of Hillsong. Ché Ahn believes that ‘The Passion Translation will be the Bible of choice for the next Jesus people movement’.

These are dark times when prominent Christian leaders such as these have apparently departed so far from the love of truth as to promote these publications which serve to distort and twist the divinely inspired scriptures. They need to be burned or shredded and put in the refuse, not sold to unsuspecting Christian believers, who have been given to believe that they are a valid expression of the holy word of God. Shame on the pastors for leading their flocks astray in this matter of absolute importance! And shame on BroadStreet Publishing for publishing it, Authentic Media for distributing it here in the UK and elsewhere, and for online and digital platforms including Bible Gateway, Logos, Olive Tree and YouVersion for hosting it! What is wrong with you? You must have seen the reviews by men who have sufficient knowledge of the original languages to make an informed judgement about the quality of this so-called ‘translation’.

Continue reading Psalm 111.5 in the Passion [anti-] ‘Translation’: does Brian Simmons fear God?