T. Allen Burr Ministries

Recently, my interests have been rather piqued by a few experiences I’ve had. In the Christmas season, I pointed out on my personal Facebook page that a certain song sung by Justin Bieber contained what I regard as blasphemy. In his song “Mistletoe,” he sings “The wise men followed the star, the way I followed my heart, and it led me to a miracle.” The song, if you are unfamiliar, is about him waiting under the mistletoe for his sweetheart. To understand why the song is blasphemous, we must understand what blasphemy is.

Blasphemy is irreverence toward something considered sacred. It is based on the Greek word “blasphémos” which is a derivative of the words “blaptó” (meaning “hurt”) and “phémi” (meaning “declare”). In short, blasphemy is any sort of declaration that damages what is meant to be held as sacred or treats it with less respect than it is due. Now, Justin Bieber’s song seems innocent enough. The wise men followed a star? Correct. It led them to a miracle? Correct. The reason this is blasphemous is it takes the Holy Scriptures out of context, disregarding the sanctity of the message found therein. By doing this, Bieber fails to show the Holy Scriptures the respect they are due.

Another recent example of this came across my social media feed just two weeks ago. As I was scrolling, I came across a video of someone reading from something called “The Gospel by Gen Z.” I thought it must be this person making up content; I was wrong. There is an actual book that can be purchased by that name. In the video, the person said, “Mary was a pick me girl for god and was simping for him in prayer when the angel Gabriel appeared…” I will spare you the remainder of the quote I used in my post. I was horrified. In my mind, this is pure disrespect for the sanctity of the Gospel. From the sections I have read–as much as it pained me to do so–there are several instances of mischaracterization and misinterpretation. The section quoted above being one of them. These instances, in my mind, certainly constitute blasphemy

The post generated some good discussion with one young person stating that they use this type of language to convey Biblical stories to their peers so as to generate further interest in the subject. I simply cannot get on board with using slang to communicate the Gospel. The Apostle Paul says to be all things to all people so that some may come to the saving knowledge of Christ, but I cannot say that extends to irreverance and blasphemy. If younger generations are confused by the archaic language used in versions like the King James Version, there are several translations of the Bible that employ plain, modern English and a handful of paraphrased versions, which I’m not fond of either, that further simplify the syntax employed. Both of these achieve their goals without resorting to either slang or a pidgin.

This issue has been held in consideration from time immemorial. In the production of the first major English revision of the KJV back in 1885, understandably called the English Revised Version, one of the translators made this assertion: “The new Bible is to read like the old, and the sacred associations connected with it are not to be disturbed; but within these limits all necessary and desirable corrections and improvements on which the best scholars are agreed will be introduced.” I am not opposed to change; change is inevitable. But, when changes come, when revisions and new translations of the Holy Scripture are made, they should be done with reverence. They should be made in the same spirit as the ERV was, because the cost of blasphemy is the cheapening of the Gospel.