Quotes by Eugene H. Peterson

About Eugene H. Peterson:

Eugene H. Peterson is an American-born clergyman, scholar, author, and poet. He has written over thirty books, including Gold Medallion Book Award winner The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Navpress Publishing Group, 2002), an idiomatic translation of the original languages of the Bible.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Isn't it interesting that all of the biblical prophets and psalmists were poets?

Eugene H. Peterson

My job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives.

Eugene H. Peterson

The Latin words , soil/earth, and , human being, have a common derivation, from which we also get our word 'humble.' This is the Genesis origin of who we are: dust - dust that the Lord God used to make us a human being. If we cultivate a lively sense...

Eugene H. Peterson

Stories are verbal acts of hospitality.

Eugene H. Peterson

We cannot be too careful about the words we use; we start out using them and they end up using us.

Eugene H. Peterson

The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in...

Eugene H. Peterson

The devil does some of his best work behind stained glass.

Eugene H. Peterson

You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. (Matthew 5:14, The Message)

Eugene H. Peterson

That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it.

Eugene H. Peterson

You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.

Eugene H. Peterson

Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence. It is not what we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience.

Eugene H. Peterson

Somehow we American pastors, without really noticing what was happening, got our vocations redefined in the terms of American careerism. We quit thinking of the parish as a location for pastoral spirituality and started thinking of it as an opportuni...

Eugene H. Peterson

Deception is nowhere more common than in religion. And the persons most easily and damningly deceived are the leaders. Those who deceive others are first themselves deceived, for not many, I think, begin with evil intent. The devil, after all, is a s...

Eugene H. Peterson

There is a long and well-documented tradition of wisdom in the Christian faith that any venture into leadership, whether by laity or clergy, is hazardous. it is necessary that there be leaders, but woe to those who become leaders.

Eugene H. Peterson

My uncle Ernie didn't believe in God. At least that's what he said. But he always Went to church on Christmas. Which I thought Seriously compromised his atheism.

Eugene H. Peterson

I do not have more information after reading a poem; I have more experience.

Eugene H. Peterson

I get asked, 'What do you miss most about being a pastor?' I think it's the intimacy, the incredible gift of intimacy. You go through death with somebody, with their families, and there's an intimacy that comes through that that is just incomparable.

Eugene H. Peterson

I believe God takes the things in our lives - family, background, education - and uses them as part of his calling. It might not be to become a pastor. But I don't think God wastes anything.

Eugene H. Peterson

The most important thing a pastor does is stand in a pulpit every Sunday and say, 'Let us worship God.' If that ceases to be the primary thing I do in terms of my energy, my imagination, and the way I structure my life, then I no longer function as a...

Eugene H. Peterson

I cannot fail to call the congregation to worship God, to listen to his Word, to offer themselves to God.

Eugene H. Peterson

Author Bio

  • NameEugene H. Peterson
  • DescriptionAmerican translator
  • BornNovember 6, 1932
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionTheologian; Author; Translator