Bethel Church Drops The Passion Translation from Bookstore

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Bethel Church in Redding, California, reportedly dropped The Passion Translation from its bookstore following a recent expose of its creator, Brian Simmons, by the YouTube channel Minor Prophets.

Screenshots taken by Protestia show a before and after from The Passion Translation being in Bethel Church’s online bookstore in their Bible section to a page stating “There are no products in this collection”, Protestia reported.

The removal comes several weeks after a Change.org petition by David Fish was made calling for the YouVersion Bible app to drop The Passion Translation from its platform after an expose by the YouMinor Prophets and Mike Winger alleging Simmons of plagiarism and deception.

“YouVersion is the most widely used Bible app in the world, and its inclusion of The Passion Translation lends the work a credibility the evidence does not support. In view of this, Bible Gateway already made the decision to remove this problematic work from their platform in 2022, ”stated Fish in his petition, which has over 17,000 signatures as of Monday morning.

“We are therefore appealing to YouVersion to remove The Passion Translation from its website and app,” he added.

“The fact that YouVersion only became boycott-worthy by charismatics due to Brian Simmons' plagiarism becoming known, and not due to Simmons' claim that the angel "Passion" took him to Jesus to learn new secrets of the Hebrew language (among other clown-level claims), demonstrates clearly that the charismatic movement cannot be "policed,” wrote Protestia publisher David Morrill.

The Passion Translation was heavily endorsed by Bethel Church, including its senior pastor, Bill Johnson, who describes the translation as “one of the greatest things to happen with Bible translation in my lifetime.

Johnson, who has also been featured in promo ads for The Passion Translation, shares how he has hardly gone a day without reading it.

He added, “I actually read The Passion Translation every night before I go to sleep.”

In addition to featuring The Passion Translation in its bookstore, Bethel Church has had its own version, such as The Passion Translation Bethel Edition.

Photo Credit: ©Freddie Marriage/Unsplash

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.