Lionel Windsor Reviews Romans
Lionel Windsor is an Anglican Minister in the Diocese of Sydney.
Lionel currently teaches New Testament and biblical languages (Greek & Hebrew) at Moore College, Sydney. He studied theology at Moore College (B.Div) and Durham University (PhD).
Lionel has taken the time to review Romans in The Passion Translation. Here are some excerpts from his review:
“In other words, by “Aramaic texts” it appears that Simmons basically means the c. 5th century Syriac Peshiṭta.
“…the Passion Translation is not actually a translation. It is not seeking to convey the original meaning, but it is deliberately seeking to add the concept of divine “passion”, even where it is not present in the original. And this is precisely what has happened here. There is no justification for adding “passionately” in Romans 1:9 (not from the Greek, nor even from the Aramaic) apart from the desire of the translator to find the idea of “passion”.”
Another example:
“…in Romans 1:9, the Greek has the word “gospel”, but Simmons believes that this word “gospel” should be replaced by the Aramaic word “revelation”. However, as King’s translation shows, the word “gospel” is clearly there in the Syriac Peshiṭta (this can be confirmed by using these Peshitta tools at dukhrana.com). Hence there is no discernible reason from the Syriac (“Aramaic”) text why Simmons should make a point of replacing the word “gospel” with “revelation”.
His conclusion:
“It reads more like a reflective paraphrase from Simmons, sometimes tightly based on the Greek text, at other significant places quite loosely based on the Greek text, occasionally using insights from the Syriac Peshiṭta, yet at other places having little discernible connection to the critical version of the Syriac Peshiṭta even in places claiming to be based on “the Aramaic”. It seems to add concepts to the biblical text that simply aren’t there in the original words–whether Greek or Syriac.”
You can read Lionel’s full review with more examples here: http://www.lionelwindsor.net/2017/11/09/passion-translation-romans/
One Reply to “Lionel Windsor Reviews Romans”
I love the clarity in this article. I pray the truth gets spread. That blindness created by Satan and his false teachers is healed as light exposes this horrid darkness moving into the pulpits of so many churches. See Jude
Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;
23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.