Eugene Peterson, The Message and Bono

2 Eugene Peterson fans hanging out.

I started theological studies at Regent College in the fall of 2001. In December of that year, Rolling Stone magazine published an interview with Bono. In the interview Bono said this:

there's a translation of Scriptures -- the New Testament and the Books of Wisdom -- that this guy Eugene Peterson has undertaken. It has been a great strength to me. He's a poet and a scholar, and he's brought the text back to the tone in which the books were written.

I seized on this quote and wrote a brief article for the Regent student newspaper at the time. After awhile NavPress got permission to quote Bono and it started showing up on the back of later editions of The Message translation.

Bono had mentioned Eugene and his writings in the past - but this was the most explicit and straightforward comment that he had made.

He had also mentioned that the band would read the Psalms from the Message backstage before a concert and then go out and rock the world.

I had the incredible fortune of meeting Bono outside his studio in Dublin in 2004. I mentioned that Eugene had been my professor at Regent College. Bono was signing an autograph for someone. He stopped and looked right at me and said,

"You're joking. You will never know what that man's scholarship has meant in my life."

We then chatted briefly about what we appreciated about his work.

And that is how my relationship with Eugene Peterson brought me into conversation with Bono.

I plan to post a few more entries on my blog about Eugene in the coming days.