The Passion Translation
The Passion Translation is a modern English rendering of the Bible. Its publisher describes it as a translation, while others consider it an interpretive paraphrase. As of early 2025, only the New Testament and portions of the Hebrew Bible had been completed; the entire TPT Bible is slated for completion in 2029.
The publisher names Brian Simmons as the lead translator. According to Simmons, he experienced a vision and then pursued a goal "to bring God's eternal truth into a highly readable heart-level expression that causes truth and love to jump out of the text and lodge inside our hearts." However, the absence of a disclosed committee for the translation, as is most common for Bible translations, has been noted. Various scholars have described the work as a solo effort, and criticized it as being unfaithful to the original manuscripts.
The work has received endorsements from some Christian leaders in the United States. However, it has also been subject to intensive scrutiny and criticism. Amid controversy, the TPT was removed in January 2022 from Bible Gateway, an online compendium of Bible translations. It remains available on the YouVersion and Logos Bible Software platforms.
Portions of the work were first published in 2011 by 5 Fold Media, while the current publisher, as of February 2025, is BroadStreet Publishing Group.
History
Background
During a 2015 television interview, Brian Simmons asserted that in 2009 Jesus visited his room and commissioned him to write a new translation of the Bible. According to the publisher's website, his vision for the project is that people would read it and grow closer to Jesus.Simmons claims to have assisted as a translator in the New Tribes Mission to the Paya-Kuna in collaboration with Wycliffe Bible Translators. A representative from Wycliffe has since stated that Simmons was never a translator. He only assisted in reading the translation to the native people, and providing feedback to the translators of how well the translation was understood by the intended audience.
Release
The Passion Translation is primarily the work of Simmons. He states that his "work has been theologically reviewed by professionals", listing a group of people.The New Testament was published on October 31, 2017.
2022 removal from Bible Gateway
In January 2022, Bible-reading website Bible Gateway removed TPT from their list of translations. Simmons criticized the action in a since-deleted Facebook post, saying "cancel culture is alive in the church world" and asking followers to request the site restore the version. Broadstreet Publishing, however, said in a statement that it "accepts that Bible Gateway has the right to make decisions as they see fit with the platforms they manage". As of November 2023, the website has not given Broadstreet Publishing a reason for the removal.Critical reception
The Passion Translation has received many critical reviews, many endorsements, and some positive reviews. As of February 2025, the publisher, BroadStreet Publishing Group, included an endorsement for the work from Bill Johnson of Bethel Church. Lou Engle of TheCall and Bobbie Houston has also endorsed the TPT.In a thorough, 14-point critique, Andrew Wilson, a Cambridge and King's College trained historian and theologian who serving in 2025 as a Teaching Pastor at King's Church London, points out that TPT was done as a "solo attempt" lacking the usual scholarly translation committee, and as such, is "not really a translation", and is inaccurate to the original language source texts. Specifically, he points to the Greek of Galatians 2:19, hina theō zēsō, which is often translated as "that I might live for God", which TPT presents as "so that I can live for God in heaven's freedom ". This commentator continues, He concludes that elements like this in the TPT are "not... translation. It's an interpolation, or a gloss, or an addition." Wilson continues: "I don't want to play the Revelation 22 card but Christians really shouldn't do this"; he concludes,
Andrew G. Shead, who at the time of his writing was head of Old Testament and Hebrew at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia and a member of the New International Version Committee on Bible Translation, reviewing the release of Simmons version of the biblical Psalms, concludes that the TPT is no longer the Bible, stating: