Every priest in America has been asked at least once, “What is the best translation of the Bible?” While I can think of more than one good Bible translation, there is one I can’t recommend. It is called “The Passion Translation,” and was produced by Brian Simmons, a former Protestant missionary to South America.
Simmons claims that Jesus appeared to him in 2009, breathed on him and said that he would give Simmons “secrets of the Hebrew language, secrets of the Bible that would be for this Last Days awakening.” Later, Simmons met an angel named “Passion,” and that gave him the idea for the title of his work.
Because Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic, Simmons decided to use Aramaic manuscripts of the New Testament, even though all the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament, going back to the second Christian century, are written in Greek. The oldest Aramaic versions go back only to the fifth century. New Testament scholars generally agree that all the books of the New Testament were originally written in Greek, even if parts of some of the Gospels were based on an Aramaic source that no longer exists.
There are two ways to produce a good English translation of the Bible. One approach, called “formal equivalence,” aims for a word-for-word correspondence between the original language and modern English. The other approach, called “dynamic equivalence,” is freer and aims to express something close to what the original readers would have understood while preserving the meaning of the original words.
The Passion Translation doesn’t fit into either category. It incorporates many ideas, words and phrases that are completely absent from the original biblical texts to such an extent that it does not accurately reflect either the words or the meanings of the original language.
Here is an example comparing translations Luke 1:1-4. I’ll give it first in the version we use at Mass and then as found in “The Passion Translation.”
Lectionary: Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.
The Passion Translation: I am writing for you, mighty lover of God, an orderly account of what Jesus accomplished and fulfilled among us. Several eyewitness biographies have already been written, using as their source material the good news preached among us by his early disciples, who were from the beginning loving servants of the Living Expression. Now I am passing on to you this accurate compilation of my own meticulous investigation based on numerous eyewitness interviews. It is appropriate for me to write this, for he also appeared to me so that I would reassure you beyond any shadow of a doubt the reliability of all you have been taught of him.
It’s easy to see how words have been moved from one verse to another, phrases moved from one place to another, and new words and ideas added that are not found in the original. Simmons has made some odd decisions. Why translate the proper name “Theophilus”? Why replace “events” with “Jesus?” Why is the Greek word “logos” translated as “Living Expression” instead of “word?” I could write three paragraphs just to explain why Simmons got this one word wrong. Then there is the startling claim that the Gospel writer had a vision of Jesus Christ, something St. Luke never said. In fact, he said exactly the opposite, affirming that he was relying on the testimony of others in composing his Gospel. You can go online and compare Simmons’ versions of other passages with standard translations.
Standard translations of the Bible are produced by teams of scholars who check each other’s work and arrive at a consensus about difficult or obscure passages. They do not claim to have received visions, private revelations or secret knowledge.
There is more than one good translation of the Bible that can help Catholics know and meditate on God’s holy word. Here are some widely available translations that have been approved by Catholic authorities (for a complete list, see https://www.usccb.org/offices/new-american-bible/approved-translations-bible):
— New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE). The lectionary we use at Mass is based on this translation.
— New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, National Council of Churches
— Good News Translation (Today’s English Version), Second Edition), American Bible Society
— English Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
“The Passion Translation” has not received such approval. For this reason alone, it is not good that Catholics in the Encounter School of Ministry are recommending it to other Catholics. The other reasons I have given above just make it worse.
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