As a paraphrase, it should be fine. So for devotional purposes or an “alternative” look The Message can be helpful. Do not under any circumstances use it as a primary source for Scripture or theological study.
Eugene Peterson has had at least one serious lapse in thinking about God’s Word, having to do with sexuality. Doesn’t mean everything he has done is wrong, it just means be careful.
< /my 2¢>
Don’t know who the person is
The Word of the Lord. Sort of.
If it takes a perfect translation to keep you from doing what you darn well know is wrong, then you are looking for loopholes. People want to stick their finger in the light socket without getting zapped.
And every time we do that, Holy Spirit is right there telling us, "Stop doing that and you won't get zapped." And then Jesus heals us from the pain of getting zapped and says, "Forgive them, Father" and Father says, "Okay."
When being first presented with “The Message”, I opened it, and looked at the prayer usually known as “The Lord’s Prayer”.
I now post below an article with which I agree wholeheartedly regarding this work. It is located here: https://gregoryreid.com/as-above-so-below-why-it-matters/
As Above, So Below – Why It Matters
“I did not really understand the spiritual nature of this crisis until I was confronted with the paraphrase, The Message , by Eugene Peterson. Peterson’s “Bible” was very tinged with terms very prone to nature-type analogies that are more familiar to Wiccan and pagan circles than to Christianity.
Something inside was just screaming. It was the same “red light” I have felt on so many occasions and with so many people over the years that indicated something was very wrong spiritually. But this time, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
It wasn’t until I was put in contact with a man named Warren Smith, a former new ager, that the “red light” made sense. I had a long conversation with Warren, and it helped answer a lot of questions. Then we got down to my problem with The Message. “I just can’t read it”, I told him. “I just don’t feel right about it.” “I can show you why,” Warren replied. “What does the Lord’s prayer read?” he asked. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, I answered. “Now read it in The Message.”
I found the passage, and as I read it, my blood ran cold.
“As above, so below.”
That phrase doesn’t mean anything to 99% of the populous, and 99.9% of believers. But to those who know and understand the world of the occult and the New Age, it means EVERYTHING. If you were to type that phrase – “As above, so below” into a search engine, and you will come up with 210,000 web site references – that overwhelming majority of which are from occult and/or new age sites. The very first site, an occult definition site, says, “This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet (which, incidentally, is listed as the source of “The Secret” in the first pages of Rhonda Byrne’s book by the same name – g.r.) and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern magic which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are claimed to function by this formula. “‘That which is above is the same as that which is below’…Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as…and so on, ad infinitum.” (from The Mystica) It has its roots in Egyptian priesthood and magick, and means, among other things, that God and man are equal.
There is no question that this is purely and occult phrase rooted in some of the most ancient forms of “mystery religion” teaching there is, Kabbala, Egyptian magick, Crowlyeyan magick, etc. The phrase is so clear in its meaning, that anyone that uses it deliberately must either (1) Unwittingly use it under the influence of something from the demonic realm, or (2) Knows exactly what it means.
I do not know the author of The Message. What I do know, is that he either had to be unwittingly influenced by something other than the Holy Spirit to write something so absolutely phrase-sppecific to the world of ancient occultism and new age thought, or, God forbid, he does know what it means. I can only pray it is the former, but regardless, it is very terrifying to me that an occult phrase that is so absolutely highly charged with occult meaning and power and RECOGNITION to those in that world, would pass as SCRIPTURE and no one even gives it a glance. Do you understand my concern? If that were the ONLY problem I had with The Message – and it is not – that would be enough for me to never use it again.”
Excerpt from Trojan Church by Gregory Reid
Personally I use the KJV Study Bible with the Greek and Hebrew dictionaries built in and reference in the body of the text. Takes me into the ancient context and amplifies the power and meaning of scripture
I also use other older translations like Tynsdale, Wycliffe and Orthodox Jewish versions
ESV and NIV are to me akin to non fat milk, I can read them but the deeper meanings can only come from the original text
It is not a Bible it is a paraphrase and as such should not be used as a source of Truth or study.
I read The Message through once and I am happy that I did. I will not do it again but occasionally I look at a particular verse just to see an alternative wording. The Message was intended for people that simply were unable to grasp most translations and I think that’s a laudable goal. There’s truth in all versions and translations but I personally prefer something more literal.
Amos 8: 1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
****9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:*******
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
The message is like a mullet haircut. The back side of the mullet.
The Message is one guy’s take on the Word of the Lord. It is personally biased to say what the author believes the Scripture says to him. It has its uses but should not be read as Scripture - more like study notes.
His version of Leviticus 18:22: 22 “Don’t have sex with a man as one does with a woman. That is abhorrent.”
So, when he wrote The Message he understood the sinfulness of homosexuality.
“The Message”, as are most dynamic equivalent bibles, is more of a commentary than a translation.
In short, you shouldn’t. You should only use the Douay-Rheims