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Bible Gateway removes The Passion Bible translation from site

by Premier Journalist
The Passion Translation.png - Banner image

The Passion Bible translation has been removed from Bible Gateway, a US site which hosts over 80 English-language Bible translations and study tools. 

Bible Getaway parent company Harper Collins gave no reason for the decision to remove the translation from the site but told Premier they periodically review their content "making changes as necessary, to align with our business goals" and gave no further details. 

Launched by Pastor Brian Simmons in 2017, The Passion Bible (TPT) has been a subject of criticism, with many scholars arguing TPT is a very loose "paraphrase" rather than a word by word translation. 

Pastor Brian describes TPT as a "heart-level translation using Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic manuscripts," which "expresses God's fiery heart of love, merging emotion and life-changing truth, and unfolds the deep mysteries of the Scriptures in the love language of God."

The translation has been backed by a number of Christian leaders, including Bethel's Bill Johnson and Hillsong's Bobbie Houston.

However, many have compared his translation to Eugene Peterson's The Message Bible, given there's a lot of theological interpretation and it includes additions that don't appear in original texts. 

However, Peterson has not said The Message is a strict translation, a description Pastor Brian has used when talking about TPT. 

Pastor Brian has often argued TPT is a translation and not a paraphrase because him and his team of translators developed the text from the Greek, Hebrew and Aramic manuscripts rather than starting from an already existing English translation.

Speaking to Premier's Christianity Magazine in 2018, Pastor Brian defended TPT from detractors saying: "There will always be critics whenever anyone attempts to do something for God."

Supporters have been sending requests to bring back The Passion Translation on Bible Gateway. TPT remains available in You Version and Logos Bible Software.

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