The Message: Psalms - Hardcover

Peterson, Eugene H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0891097678 ISBN 13: 9780891097679

Publisher: Navpress Pub Group, 1994

Synopsis

The ancient hymns, poems, and prayers found in the Psalms teach us how to communicate with God. As Eugene Peterson writes, this book "gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us."

Translated directly from the original Hebrew, the Psalms come alive in the heart-stirring words of The Message.

About this title

About the Author

EUGENE H. PETERSON is a writer and poet. He has authored more than twenty books and is a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Eugene was also the founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he ministered for twenty-nine years.

Reviews

The writer, whose The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English (NavPress, 1993) is a paraphrase of the New Testament, now applies the same method to the Old Testament book of Psalms. In a few places, the technique works; some of the rougher passages recover their harshness in the contemporary idiom, and the act of paraphrasing itself underscores the devotional value of putting the Psalms in one's own words. But too often Peterson uses paraphrase for its own sake, as when Psalm 19 turns "gold" and "honey" into "diamonds" and "strawberries," as though the former terms were unclear to the reader. He also imposes Christian categories on what is patently a Hebrew text. The writer's lack of skill at reproducing the poetry of the Psalms is evident everywhere; Stephen Mitchell's A Book of Psalms (LJ 6/1/93) is far preferable to this volume. The whole endeavor makes one understand why some people long for the days of the King James version. A marginal purchase.
W. Alan Froggatt, Bridgewater, Ct.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Navpress Pub Group
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0891097678
• ISBN 13: 9780891097679
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 199