Bono & Eugene Peterson: The Psalms

The Psalms

Fuller Theological Seminary, with several famous theologians on staff–including Richard J. Foster, Miroslav Volf, and Joel B. Green–has documented a meeting between Bono and Eugene Peterson. Bono has never hidden his Christian background; he reached out to Peterson when The Message translation of the Bible was released to say thanks and invite him over. Peterson did not accept at first because he was too busy. Peterson is most known for his Bible translation but next to that has published quite a few monographs and articles on Old Testament topics, mostly on the Psalms.

After Bono and Peterson finally met, they developed a friendly relationship. Fuller documents the highlights of one of those visits in this (too) short video. It is worth the watch and only 20 minutes long.

The Truth

The thing that stood out I think was their honest discussion of the reality the Psalms depict. It is not a superficial and fake story they tell; the Psalms display the violence in the world and the struggles within humanity. Bono–rightfully–addresses this as a mirror for contemporary Christianity; too much of what is defined today as “worship” doesn’t depict that truth. It only shows the easy side. It has resulted in Bono distrusting a lot of Christianity for that reason.

How real is worship in our churches?