Eugene Peterson was an American Presbyterian minister, scholar, author, and poet who was born in 1932 and passed away in 2018 at the age of 85. He is best known for The Message, a contemporary paraphrase translation of the Bible into everyday English that he completed in 2002 after working on it for over 20 years. Here is an overview of his life and ministry:
Early Life and Education
Eugene Peterson was born on November 6, 1932 in East Stanwood, Washington. His parents were Pentecostal Christians and he attended a Pentecostal church while growing up. As a teenager, he began to have doubts about Pentecostal teachings and practices. After high school, Peterson attended Seattle Pacific University, a small Christian liberal arts college affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. There he began to appreciate and connect with more liturgical and sacramental forms of worship.
After graduating from Seattle Pacific in 1954, Peterson went on to study at New York Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1958 after graduating. He married Janice in 1960. They would go on to have three children together.
Early Ministry
After ordination, Peterson’s first role was as pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland from 1962 to 1964. However, he felt unprepared for pastoral ministry based on his theological training. This motivated him to pursue further education. From 1965 to 1966, he studied Semitic languages and theology at Johns Hopkins University. In 1967, he graduated with a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
During his time in seminary, Peterson became interested in the Hebrew prophets and the pastor’s role in “prophetic ministry” – speaking truth and justice to power. He also began to appreciate the importance of worship and community, in contrast to his individualistic Pentecostal upbringing. After graduating, he pastored a Presbyterian church in Massachusetts before becoming professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1979.
Regent College Years
Peterson taught at Regent College, a Christian graduate school, for 29 years until his retirement in 2006. There he emphasized the role of spiritual theology – theology grounded in Scripture and the practices of prayer, worship, and community. He was concerned that many pastors were more focused on church growth strategies than on deep biblical and spiritual formation.
In the 1980’s, Peterson began work on what would become his most famous project – The Message. This contemporary paraphrase of the Bible in everyday language took over 20 years to complete. Published in segments from 1993 to 2002, The Message became extremely popular and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. However, it also received criticism from some who felt it strayed too far from formal equivalence translation approaches.
Writing and Spiritual Formation Ministry
Throughout his career, Peterson wrote over 30 books total. His writing focused on spiritual theology and formation, pastoral ministry, Christian worship, and lived theology. Some of his most influential books include Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (1987), The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (1989), and Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (2006).
In 1989, Peterson founded Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, the church he first pastored in the early 1960s. This time he emphasized a more liturgical and sacramental worship life. He also began holding spiritual formation retreats and workshops to help pastors and other Christians go deeper in their faith through spiritual reading, prayer, and community.
Beliefs and Perspectives
Throughout his pastoral and academic career, Peterson emphasized the importance of spiritual formation grounded in Scripture, liturgy, and community. He was concerned that American evangelicalism had wandered from historic orthodox Christianity in its emphasis on individualism, consumerism, pragmatism, and catering to secular culture. He often critiqued churches that approached ministry in shallow or gimmicky ways.
In terms of theology, Peterson was confessionally Reformed and evangelical. He upheld the authority of Scripture and justification by faith in Christ alone. However, he had a sacramental view of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as means of grace. His theology integrated head and heart, doctrine and living, belief and practice. He tried to present an integrated picture of spirituality that touched all of life.
Major Works
Here are some of Eugene Peterson’s most significant published works:
- The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (2002) – Peterson’s popular paraphrase of the entire Bible.
- Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (1987) – Emphasized spiritual integrity in pastoral ministry over church growth strategies.
- The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (1989) – Argued for the importance of spiritual direction and formation for pastors.
- Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (2006) – Discussed lectio divina and contemplative reading of Scripture.
- The Pastor: A Memoir (2011) – Autobiographical reflections on his life in ministry.
- As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God (2017) – His last published work integrating theology, nature, and spirituality.
Peterson also published books on the prophets, pastoral ministry, Christian worship and liturgy, travel memoirs, and volumes of poetry over his long writing career.
Influence and Legacy
Eugene Peterson left a lasting impact on many Christians around the world through his writing and ministry. Here are some key ways he influenced American Christianity:
- Promoted spiritual formation and discipleship rooted in historic Christian practices of spiritual reading, prayer, and worship.
- Emphasized the importance of pastors focusing on preaching, spiritual direction, discipleship, and worship rather than business administration.
- Critiqued consumeristic and therapy-focused trends in American evangelicalism.
- Deepened appreciation for how Scripture shapes Christian imagination and identity through lectio divina spiritual reading.
- The Message Bible made Scripture accessible to millions of people in everyday language.
- Taught that all of life – vocation, family, ordinary life – matters to God and is the location of spirituality.
- Showed the relevance of living a life integrated around the Biblical story of creation, fall, redemption, consummation.
Overall, Eugene Peterson was an influential pastor-theologian and author who called Christians back to spiritual formation rooted in Biblical truth and historic Christian practices. He leaves behind a legacy of commitment to the vocation of pastoring and love for God’s Word.
