Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
“Prayers are tools not for doing or getting, but for being and becoming.” These are the words of the legendary pastor and writer Eugene Peterson, whose biblical imagination has formed generations of preachers. At the back of the church he led for nearly three decades, you’d be likely to find well-worn copies of books by Wallace Stegner or Denise Levertov. Frustrated with the unimaginative way he found his congregants treating their Bibles, he translated it himself — and that translation has sold millions of copies around the world. Eugene Peterson’s down-to-earth faith hinges on a love of metaphor and a commitment to the Bible’s poetry as what keeps it alive to the world. (Original Air Date: December 22, 2016)
About the Guest:
Eugene Peterson served as the pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church for 29 years. He wrote over 30 books, including “Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer,” “The Pastor: A Memoir,” “The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language,” “As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God,” and “Every Step an Arrival: A 90-Day Devotional for Exploring God's Word.”
Visit our website to read the transcript, download the episode, or listen to the unedited interview: onbeing.org/programs/eugene-peterson-the-bible-poetry-and-active-imagination-aug2018
Visit our On Being Classics Library, where this episode is featured:
onbeing.org/libraries/classics
STAY IN TOUCH
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Twitter: twitter.com/onbeing
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OUR PODCASTS
On Being with Krista Tippett: onbeing.org/series/podcast
This Movie Changed Me: onbeing.org/series/this-movie-changed-me
Becoming Wise: onbeing.org/series/becoming-wise
“Prayers are tools not for doing or getting, but for being and becoming.” These are the words of the legendary pastor and writer Eugene Peterson, whose biblical imagination has formed generations of preachers. At the back of the church he led for nearly three decades, you’d be likely to find well-worn copies of books by Wallace Stegner or Denise Levertov. Frustrated with the unimaginative way he found his congregants treating their Bibles, he translated it himself — and that translation has sold millions of copies around the world. Eugene Peterson’s down-to-earth faith hinges on a love of metaphor and a commitment to the Bible’s poetry as what keeps it alive to the world. (Original Air Date: December 22, 2016)
About the Guest:
Eugene Peterson served as the pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church for 29 years. He wrote over 30 books, including “Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer,” “The Pastor: A Memoir,” “The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language,” “As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God,” and “Every Step an Arrival: A 90-Day Devotional for Exploring God's Word.”
Visit our website to read the transcript, download the episode, or listen to the unedited interview: onbeing.org/programs/eugene-peterson-the-bible-poetry-and-active-imagination-aug2018
Visit our On Being Classics Library, where this episode is featured:
onbeing.org/libraries/classics
STAY IN TOUCH
Facebook: facebook.com/onbeing
Twitter: twitter.com/onbeing
Instagram: instagram.com/onbeing
Newsletter: onbeing.org/newsletter
OUR PODCASTS
On Being with Krista Tippett: onbeing.org/series/podcast
This Movie Changed Me: onbeing.org/series/this-movie-changed-me
Becoming Wise: onbeing.org/series/becoming-wise
