Q336 : Resources on the New Apostolic Reformation and the Passion Paraphrase Bible?

Since finding your site some months ago I have had the pleasure of reading and watching the material on your pages and rejoiced over this work which is so foundational.

In the past 5 days my husband and I have just learned about the New Apostolic Reformation and Simmons passion paraphrase "bible". (I guess we have been living in a bubble for the past 2 decades!)

After much research we are appalled and horrified at what we have learned and now fear that it is even in our own little church. Have your theologians written any material about this topic or have any advice about how to handle this matter if what we suspect is true?

A336 : by Tony Garland

None of the teachers at SpiritAndTruth.org have specifically addressed the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement—although I make passing reference to it in the answer to question 290^a.

Most errors of the NAR movement stem from two areas:

1. Confusion about when and how the kingdom of God arrives on earth
2. The belief that apostles, prophets, and prophetic words are actively being used of God today

Concerning #1, I can recommend Andy Wood's extensive teachings on The Coming Kingdom^b — especially the sessions which deal with how to understand passages which "kingdom now" (and NAR) advocates use to promote the idea that the Church is presently engaged bringing in the kingdom.

Concerning #2, we have numerous Q/A entries on the topic of Spiritual Gifts^c and I also deal with confusion over the historical setting and significance of the Day of Pentecost in my teaching through Acts^d as well as related topics: The Nature of Biblical Tongues^e, the Promise of Pentecost^f, and Tongues as of Fire^g.

Having been saved into the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement and immersed in its teachings for the first 5 years of my Christian walk, this is a topic which is near and dear to my heart—having seen spiritual abuse and fallout due to practices within the movement.

For specifics on NAR, I'm afraid I can't offer anything definitive from our website at this point.

Up until your question, I hadn't heard about the Passion Paraphrase Bible^h myself. Maybe I live in a bubble too?

With the rising popularity of Eugene Peterson's The Message, there has been a growing movement to depart from word-for-word accuracy toward “looser” translation techniques: as if muddying and dumbing-down the razor-sharp focus of God's written word will somehow bring us closer to Him by elevating emotion over intellect. This is a false dichotomy: intellect contributes to and facilitates the type of spiritual and emotional response that God desires because worship of God is enhanced by truth and a deeper understanding of Who He is and what He has done.