I Told You So - CourtneyR.dev's 2nd Brain

I Told You So ![rw-book-cover](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pZjbaGE-8d8/maxresdefault.jpg) 🔗 **Source:** [I Told You So](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjbaGE-8d8) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [bible-translation, passion-translation, biblical-scholarship] > author: Mike Winger > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjbaGE-8d8 > date created: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} {{time:HH:mm}} > > # 🏷️ Title: I told you so >  ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ## 📝 Summary - Mike Winger highlights Dr. Peter Gury's criticism of the Passion Translation as "basically garbage" - Dr. Gury is a respected Greek scholar at Phoenix Seminary who teaches Advanced Greek grammar - This adds to a growing chorus of biblical scholars criticizing the Passion Translation's reliability - Brian Simmons claims divine revelation and angelic assistance in creating the translation - The controversy centers on Simmons' lack of scholarly credentials versus his extraordinary spiritual claims - Winger emphasizes this isn't about being right, but about protecting people from unreliable biblical interpretation ## 📖 Main Content The video discusses Dr. Peter Gury's assessment of the Passion Translation, a Bible version created primarily by Brian Simmons. Dr. Gury, a professor at Phoenix Seminary who teaches Advanced Greek grammar, called the Passion Translation "basically garbage" and advised against reading it, particularly criticizing its references to Aramaic. ### Background on the Passion Translation Brian Simmons created this translation despite having limited educational background compared to traditional Bible translators. He makes extraordinary claims including: - God took him to heaven in a vision - He received "secrets of Hebrew and Greek" unavailable to other scholars - God expanded his mind for translation work - An angel touched him and gave him understanding for translating Romans ### Scholarly Consensus Multiple biblical scholars have criticized the Passion Translation. Dr. Gury joins this consensus while maintaining that mainstream Bible translations are generally reliable and useful. His position is that any mainstream translation serves readers well, but the Passion Translation specifically should be avoided. ### Financial and Ethical Concerns Winger notes that Simmons appears to be making millions from the Passion Translation while making what Winger considers "deceitful claims" about its divine origin and superior insights. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjbaGE-8d8&t=0) Opening statement on Passion Translation - "The passion translation is basically garbage yeah do not read it" - Dr. Gury's immediate assessment sets the tone #### ⏱️ [00:00:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjbaGE-8d8&t=15) Brian Simmons' background and claims - Limited educational credentials for Bible translation - Claims of heavenly visions and divine secrets - Angel allegedly touched him for Romans translation understanding #### ⏱️ [00:01:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjbaGE-8d8&t=90) Dr. Gury's credentials and general translation advice - Professor at Phoenix Seminary - Teaches Advanced Greek grammar - Generally supportive of mainstream translations - Specifically isolates Passion Translation as problematic #### ⏱️ [00:02:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjbaGE-8d8&t=165) Financial concerns - Simmons allegedly making millions from the translation - Winger characterizes the claims as deceitful - Questions about ethical responsibility to potential buyers ## 📚 References - Dr. Peter Gury - Phoenix Seminary professor - Mike Winger's previous series analyzing the Passion Translation - Alicia Childers interview with Dr. Gury and colleague about Bible translations - Phoenix Seminary ## 🗣️ Paraphrase A biblical studies content creator shares validation from yet another scholar regarding problems with the Passion Translation. Dr. Peter Gury, a Greek language professor, joins other academics in strongly criticizing this Bible version created by Brian Simmons. While Gury supports most mainstream Bible translations, he specifically warns against the Passion Translation due to its poor scholarship, particularly regarding Aramaic references. The creator emphasizes this isn't about vindication but about protecting readers from unreliable biblical interpretation, especially given the financial success Simmons has achieved through extraordinary spiritual claims about the translation's divine origin. ## 📰 Newsletter Biblical scholarship continues to raise red flags about alternative Bible translations making extraordinary claims. This week, another respected academic joined the growing chorus of scholars criticizing the Passion Translation. For those involved in Christian education, ministry, or content creation, this serves as a reminder about the importance of vetting religious resources and understanding the difference between mainstream scholarly consensus and outlier claims. Whether you're recommending study materials or choosing resources for your community, the principle remains: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, especially when they involve sacred texts that shape people's spiritual lives. ## ✅ Action Items #### Community - Review current Bible translation recommendations in study groups and educational materials - Develop criteria for evaluating the credibility of religious texts and translations - Create educational content about how Bible translations are typically created and vetted #### Education - Research the backgrounds and methodologies of various Bible translators - Compare translation philosophies between mainstream versions and controversial alternatives - Develop media literacy skills for evaluating religious authority claims ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Alternative Bible translations making extraordinary spiritual claims will continue to attract criticism from mainstream biblical scholars - Financial success of controversial religious products correlates with the boldness of their supernatural claims rather than scholarly merit - Consumer protection in religious markets relies heavily on peer review and scholarly criticism rather than regulatory oversight - Religious communities that emphasize scholarly credibility will be more resistant to alternative translations with questionable methodology ## 🎯 Conclusion The growing scholarly consensus against the Passion Translation highlights the importance of academic credibility in Bible translation work. While spiritual claims about divine inspiration are inherently difficult to verify, the scholarly community continues to evaluate translations based on linguistic competence, manuscript evidence, and methodological transparency. For religious communities and individuals, this serves as a case study in balancing spiritual openness with intellectual discernment when choosing foundational texts for faith and practice. --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] the passion translation is basically [00:02] garbage yeah do not read it uh it's [00:05] total nonsense yeah every time it refers [00:07] to the Aramaic I want to throw up I'm so [00:09] excited that yet another highly [00:11] respected and trained and accomplished [00:13] scholar has weighed in on the passion [00:15] translation Dr Peter gury's the one who [00:17] weighs in on it but just to bring you up [00:18] to speed if you don't know the passion [00:20] translation is a primarily but not [00:22] entirely primarily one man translation [00:25] of the Bible a new version of the Bible [00:27] made by a guy named Brian Simmons who [00:29] has very little educational background [00:31] to do something like this at least [00:33] compared to most Bible translators today [00:35] but he does have big promises about how [00:37] God took him up to heaven gave him a [00:39] vision told him he was going to give him [00:40] secrets of Hebrew and Greek that's right [00:42] secrets of Hebrew and Greek so new [00:45] information in the translation that [00:46] wasn't there before and how God expanded [00:48] his mind and an angel touched him and [00:50] gave him his understanding of how to [00:52] translate Romans and stuff like this all [00:54] sorts of wild claims but all the [00:56] scholars so far that have weighed in on [00:57] this that at least I've interacted with [00:59] have had the same thing to say but now [01:01] Dr Peter Guri has added his input Dr [01:04] Guri is one of the professors at Phoenix [01:06] Seminary he teaches several courses on [01:07] Greek including Advanced Greek grammar [01:10] and this is what he added About the [01:13] Passion translation that I have two [01:14] comments I want to give on his comments [01:16] I'll cut to the chase the best [01:18] translation is the one you read okay [01:19] that's the answer John wants to hear I [01:22] think that he likes [01:23] okay because if you don't read your [01:27] Bible doesn't matter what translation it [01:28] is who cares right yeah that's good it [01:30] doesn't do any good so just read the one [01:32] you haven't but worrying about it unless [01:34] it's a fashion translation or something [01:36] you know like that [01:38] myself on this more racially because the [01:41] passion translation is basically garbage [01:43] yeah do not read it uh it's total [01:46] nonsense yeah every time it refers to [01:48] the Aramaic I want to throw up but [01:50] anyways [01:51] um so yeah there are some really Badness [01:53] but that's why I said the mainstream [01:55] ones any one of them are good they're [01:57] going to serve you really well so I have [01:58] just two comments I'd like to add to [02:00] what Dr Guri said and the first is I [02:02] want to note and I want you to know he's [02:03] actually down with translations in [02:05] general and pretty much any mainstream [02:06] translation Dr Guru is like yeah go for [02:08] it read that one whichever one you're [02:09] going to read that's that's going to do [02:11] you the best you know and he'll go on to [02:12] say like look for you know the most [02:14] literal one that is very readable to you [02:16] that's a good place to start so it's [02:18] just the passion translation that he [02:19] isolates as being particularly bad and [02:22] this isn't because I paid him too I [02:23] didn't pay him anything never talked to [02:25] him don't know him this is because he [02:27] just thinks that that's actually the [02:28] truth of the matter and this is what [02:29] Scholars have been saying about the [02:31] passion translation I'm going to link [02:32] down below my entire series the whole [02:34] playlist of videos where scholar after [02:36] scholar after scholar offers a very [02:38] thoughtful and long-form Analysis of the [02:40] passion translation looking at different [02:41] books and showing the problems with the [02:43] translation and the reason is because [02:44] Brian Simmons is making millions it [02:46] seems to me Millions upon millions of [02:48] dollars while he's throwing out these [02:49] deceitful claims about the passion [02:51] translation that are simply not true it [02:52] is not a reliable translation it is not [02:54] something you should look to for extra [02:56] special spiritual insights you won't get [02:58] from other translations it's just not a [03:00] good idea before I give you my second [03:02] and final point I'm going to link down [03:03] below also the video of the interview [03:05] where Dr Gary was saying this him and [03:07] another professor were being interviewed [03:08] by Alicia Childers to talk about [03:09] translations and how we got our Bible [03:11] it's an interesting interview it's kind [03:13] of high level stuff and they just have [03:14] this little thrown in comment about the [03:15] passion finally my last point is this [03:17] some of you are going to be the [03:18] naysayers okay and you're going to be [03:20] like Mike you're really only posting [03:22] this video to say I told you so that's [03:24] your whole goal you're really just [03:25] sharing this to say I told you so and I [03:27] just want to make it very clear [03:29] I am  📄 **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/I Told You So.md|I Told You So by YouTube]] ## Highlights - the passion translation is basically garbage yeah do not read it uh it's total nonsense yeah every time it refers to the Aramaic I want to throw up I'm so excited that yet another highly respected and trained and accomplished scholar has weighed in on the passion translation Dr Peter gury's the one who weighs in on it but just to bring you up to speed if you don't know the passion translation is a primarily but not entirely primarily one man translation of the Bible a new version of the Bible made by a guy named Brian Simmons who has very little educational background ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ksvc3edqdxj7nrfacxwprrx5)) - Note: Dr. Peter Gurry: "The Passion Translation is basically garbage... do not read it... every time it refers to the Aramaic I want to throw up." Sharpest quotable rebuke in the whole TPT critique corpus. Winger frames Gurry as Phoenix Seminary's advanced Greek prof and one of "yet another highly respected and trained and accomplished" scholars to weigh in. The video is essentially Winger highlighting this quote. - Tags: atom/literature/h1, peter-gurry, scholar-quote, basically-garbage, winger-segment-open - Dr Peter Guri has added his input Dr Guri is one of the professors at Phoenix Seminary he teaches several courses on Greek including Advanced Greek grammar and this is what he added About the Passion translation that I have two comments I want to give on his comments I'll cut to the chase the best translation is the one you read okay that's the answer John wants to hear I think that he likes okay because if you don't read your Bible doesn't matter what translation it is who cares right yeah that's good it ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ksvc3s3cfvvrk7ndj4h9bgn7)) - Note: Gurry's institutional credentials: Phoenix Seminary, Advanced Greek grammar instructor. The credentialing matters because the rebuke in the prior paragraph ("basically garbage") is sharp enough to need the institutional weight behind it to land. Phoenix Seminary's advanced Greek prof is exactly the right credential to claim authority on a translation that claims Aramaic-secrets-of-Greek. - Tags: phoenix-seminary, advanced-greek-grammar, atom/literature/h2, peter-gurry-credentials