THE "VOICE BIBLE" REVIEWED:
CREATED BY CONTEMPLATIVE NEW AGE MYSTICS, FOR THE UNSUSPECTING
FROM: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2016/newsletter20160222.htm; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
What is “The Voice” translation of the Bible and what do you think of it?
Our Comments:
Our answer (from a 2007 LT article):
According to an article in Christian Today, “New Bible Project for Young Generation Launched”, Thomas Nelson’s 2006 “Bible” project called The Voice is going full speed ahead. The project, announced by TN last spring, is a “re-telling of the Bible that consists of creative voices from historians to poets, storytellers to songwriters,” and is for young people who are “searching for new ways to explore the Bible, or who are seeking to read it for the first time.” The project will be a combination of books, music CDs, artwork and an interactive website. With the largest Christian publisher backing the project, there is little doubt that The Voice will reach countless young people and have a significant impact in many lives.
Unfortunately, the project turns out to be an emerging church creation, thus the foundation of it is marred from the beginning. Because mysticism, New Age ideology, and a return to Rome, are the building blocks of the emerging church, The Voice is going to be a spiritually dangerous conduit for adherents. Some of the emergent leaders involved in the project are Chris Seay (project founder), Brian McLaren, Lauren Winner, Leonard Sweet, and Blue Like Jazz author, Donald Miller. In last year’s press release by Thomas Nelson, Erwin McManus was also listed.
This month’s new release (the third book in the project) is called The Voice of Matthew, written by emergent/contemplative Lauren Winner (Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath).
Chris Seay, the founder of The Voice, is pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston, Texas. A mission statement on the website illustrates the theology of the emerging church:
We believe that the Gospel impacts every area of a person’s life and culture. We reject unfounded categories that divide the world into uniquely sacred or purely secular. God is redeeming all of creation through Jesus.Saying that all of creation (e.g., all humanity) is redeemed is in direct opposition of the teachings of Jesus who said “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). And the belief that the church will usher in the Kingdom of God as opposed to Jesus Christ ushering it in with his literal return to the earth is indicative of the contemplative/emerging mindset. (It is also classic dominionism.)
We believe that the church exists for the world and not for herself – she is to introduce and usher in the Kingdom of God into every part of this world.
The contemplative affinities of the contributors of The Voice will assure that mysticism will be an integral part of this project. This new version of the Bible has the potential to lead thousands, and possibly millions, of young people away from the words of Jesus Christ who said:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. (John 10: 1-4)We contend that The Voice is not the voice of the Good Shepherd, nor is it the Word of God that says:
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (I John 5:12-13)To understand more about the emerging church and the new missiology, read Roger Oakland’s book Faith Undone.
Related Articles:
Blue Like Jazz Movie Hits Theaters – A Word About Blue Like Jazz, the Book
The New Look of Christian Missions
They Hate Christianity But Love (Another) Jesus
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The Voice Bible Review | A Door to the New Age
BY DR. RANDY WHITE
SEE: https://randywhiteministries.org/articles/the-voice-bible-translation-a-door-to-the-new-age/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Thomas Nelson Publishers and Ecclesia Bible Foundation has recently published “The Voice” Bible Translation. According to the publisher’s website, “The Voice™ is a faithful dynamic equivalent translation that reads like a story with all the truth and wisdom of God’s Word.”
The emphasis of The Voice is the spoken word, and the translation is designed for ease of public and dramatic reading. Because it is so easy to read, so poetic, so beautiful to the ear, I have no doubt that this translation will soon come to a pulpit or youth group near you. The publisher says that, “The Voice recaptures the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in the translation process.” Sadly, the original words and their meaning was also lost in the translation process.
Ease on the ear is not the priority purpose of the Word of God, and I believe The Voice has made grave errors of translation and should be rejected outright. Though they claim to have a translation that is “painstakingly true” to the original words, it is painstakingly obvious that the original meaning of the words was not priority in this “translation.”
Consider John 14:3, for example. This verse, found in one of the most beloved passages of the Bible, has Jesus’ words that “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself.” The Greek words are common and easily translate to English. In fact, the word for “I will come” is used over 600 times in the New Testament, and its meaning is unquestioned. Yet the “painstakingly true” translation in The Voice is, “I will be there to greet you personally and welcome you home, where we will be together.” The Voice has totally dropped the return in favor of our arrival. Why? I can only guess it is because the “translators” have an allergy to the Rapture and so they wanted to cleanse this passage of any rapture potential.
The Voice reads like a New Age book. The familiar “I am the way, the truth, and the life” of John 14:6 is rendered, “I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life.” This and hundreds of other verses simply ooze with New Age terminology.
This so-called translation is a paraphrase with a theological agenda. It is New Age / Emergent, promotes Liberation Theology’s social justice, and disregards the clear meaning of words to advance their theological agenda. In the end, it is so mangled that I would not call it a Bible.
To watch my online Bible class on The Voice Bible review, use the player below.
