Eugene H. Peterson is a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He has written over thirty books, including Gold Medallion Book Award

Gold Medallion Book Award

The Christian Book Award is an annual award given by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association to honor Christian content in several categories, including Bibles, Fiction, Children, Inspiration, Bible Reference, and Non-Fiction. Winners are announced each year at the industry's Executive...

 winner The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

The Message (Bible)

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language was created by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments from 1993 to 2002. It is an idiomatic translation of the original languages of the Bible.-History:...

(Navpress Publishing Group, 2002), a contemporary translation of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

.

Personal life

Peterson was born in East Stanwood, Washington

Stanwood, Washington

Stanwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,231 at the 2010 census.-History:Stanwood was first settled in 1866 by Robert Fulton. Stanwood's Post Office was established as Centerville in 1870, and the name was changed to Stanwood in 1877 by D.O. Pearson...

 and grew up in Kalispell, Montana

Kalispell, Montana

Kalispell is a city in and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2010 census put Kalispell's population at 19,927 up 5,704 over 2000. At 40.1% this is the largest percentage of growth of any incorporated city in Montana. Kalispell is the largest city and commercial center...

. He earned his B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University

Seattle Pacific University

Seattle Pacific University is a Christian university of the liberal arts, sciences and professions, located on the north slope of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was founded in 1891 by the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary...

, his S.T.B.

Bachelor of Sacred Theology

The Bachelor of Sacred Theology is a graduate-level academic degree in theology.The Bachelor of Sacred Theology is offered by a number of Pontifical Universities. It is sometimes offered as a graduate degree, for students who have already completed a B.A. or other first degree...

 from New York Theological Seminary

New York Theological Seminary

The New York Theological Seminary was established as a non-denominational institution in 1900 with the founding of the Bible Teachers’ College in Montclair, New Jersey by Wilbert Webster White. President White moved the school to New York City in 1902, when it was renamed the Bible Teachers’...

, and his M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in Semitic languages

Semitic languages

The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...

 from Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

. In 1962, Peterson was a founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for 29 years before retiring in 1991. He was Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College

Regent College

Regent College is an international graduate school of Christian Studies, located next to the campus of the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands west of Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an affiliated college of that university....

 in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 until retiring in 2006. He now lives in Montana.

The Message

Peterson is probably best known for The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

The Message (Bible)

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language was created by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments from 1993 to 2002. It is an idiomatic translation of the original languages of the Bible.-History:...

, which was written to make the original meaning more understandable and accessible to the modern reader. Peterson explains:

Selected works

• A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (1980)
• Run With the Horses: The Quest for Life at its Best (InterVarsity Press, November 1983)
• Traveling Light: Modern Meditations on St. Paul's Letter of Freedom (Helmers & Howard Publishing, 1988)
• Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination (HarperCollins Publishers, 1988)
• Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer (Harper San Francisco, 1991 reprint)
• Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community (Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1993)
• Like Dew Your Youth: Growing Up with Your Teenager (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994)
• Subversive Spirituality (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publish Publishing Group, 1994, reprinted in 1997 and 2006)
• Take and Read: Spiritual Reading, An Annotated List (Eerdmans-Regent College Publishing, 1996)
• Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians (HarperCollins Canada / Religious, 1997)
• 1 and 2 Samuel - Westminster Bible Companion (Westminster John Knox Press, 1999)
• The Wisdom of Each Other: A Conversation Between Spiritual Friends (Zondervan, 2001)
• The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language
  The Message (Bible)
  The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language was created by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments from 1993 to 2002. It is an idiomatic translation of the original languages of the Bible.-History:...
  
  (Navpress Publishing Group, 2002)
• The Christmas Troll (Navpress Publishing Group, 2005)
• Living the Resurrection: The Risen Christ in an Everyday Life (Navpress Publishing Group, 2006)
• The Pastor: A Memoir (HarperOne, 2011)

Pastoral Theology series

• Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980)
• The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980)
• Working The Angles: The Shape Of Pastoral Integrity (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, May 1987)
• Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992)
• The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call (co-authored with Marva Dawn
  Marva Dawn
  Marva J. Dawn is an American Christian theologian, author, musician and educator, associated with the parachurch organization Christians Equipped for Ministry in Vancouver, Washington. She also serves as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dawn...
  
  ) (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000)

Praying with the Bible Series

• Praying with Jesus: A Year of Daily Prayer and Reflection on the Words and Actions of Jesus (Harper San Francisco, 1993)
• Praying with the Psalms: A Year of Daily Prayer and Reflection on the Words of David (Harper San Francisco, 1993)
• Praying with Moses: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words and Actions of Moses (Harper San Francisco, 1994)
• Praying with the Early Christians: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words of the Early Christians (Harper San Francisco, 1994)
• Praying with Paul: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words and Actions of Paul (Harper San Francisco, 1995)
• Praying with the Prophets: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words and Actions of the Prophets (Harper San Francisco, 1995)

Spiritual Theology series (5 volumes expected)

• Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Group, 2005)
• Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, January 2006)
• The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Group, 2007)
• Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Group, 2008)
• Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Group, 2010)

External links

• Eugene Peterson Books and Audio
• A Conversation with Eugene Peterson by Michael J. Cusick, Mars Hill Review, 1995
• Spirituality For All The Wrong Reasons by Mark Galli, Christianity Today, 2005
• Eugene Peterson: The Story Behind The Message by Clint Kelly, Lifeway
• Eugene Peterson @ Calvin College - January 24, 2006, Peterson reads the introduction and first chapter of Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
• U2 Connections: Eugene Peterson by Angela Pancela, @U2
• The Psalms in American - an interview with Eugene Peterson, with samples of his interpretations of the psalms.