The Passion Translation of the Bible (TPT) is “currently in an expanded review process,” on the world’s most popular bible app, amid accusations of plagiarism and deception.
Last month a petition was launched to have the TPT removed from YouVersion, the world’s most popular Bible app, in light of a major exposé by the YouTube channel Minor Prophets revealing the extent to which its creator, Brian Simmons, routinely plagiarized or lied about where it came from and how he translated it.
The exposé proved to be a damning indictment against the author and his translation methods and prowess, resulting in more than 19,000 signatures.
While the “translation” is still available on the YouVersion app and website, it has now been flagged with a “In Review” tag and an “Important note” that reads:
‘This Bible version is currently in an expanded review process. Because we take your trust in the Bible App seriously, we believe it’s important for you to know so it can inform your decision about how to engage with it.”
On June 4, 2026, a Change.org petition titled “An Appeal to YouVersion to Remove The Passion Translation” was launched by David Fish and quickly gained thousands of signatures. As of early July 23, the petition has attained 19,079 verified signatures, largely fueled by promotion from Bible teacher Mike Winger, who contributed to the video.
As the petition explains, the deceptions include:
- Simmons claiming that he “translated the New Testament into the language of the Paya-Kuna people,” when an official email from Wycliffe Bible Translators confirms he held no official role in that translation.
- Using “Dr.” before his name in all early editions, despite a doctorate unrelated to Bible translation and granted by an institution (the Wagner Leadership Institute) that much of the academic community does not regard as legitimate.
(Editor’s note, they offers courses in subjects like dream interpretation and miracle-working and where you can get a “Masters of Spiritual Healing, Deliverance, and Warfare” or a “Masters of Apostolic Leadership and Applied Ministry.”)
The exposé brings the receipts, and presents evidence of “extensive, unethical copying and plagiarism,” including showing where TPT frequently lifts unique phrasing, sometimes 15 to 17 consecutive words, from existing single-author paraphrases such as Eugene Peterson’s The Message and Kenneth Taylor’s The Living Bible.
These borrowings occur in deliberate “batches,” with entire chapters showing multiple consecutive lifts from the same source.
They further explain:
- Simmons admitted to Dr. Mark Strauss that he does not read Aramaic—directly contradicting his past claims and the impression created by the translation’s footnotes—and that he drew his material from English-language websites.
- Simmons’ New Testament “Aramaic” renderings are largely the product of copying other English works by fringe authors who themselves do not possess qualifications to translate. These include David Bauscher’s Original Aramaic New Testament, Andrew Gabriel Roth’s Aramaic English New Testament, and Victor Alexander’s Aramaic New Testament.
- He also reproduces insights from other resources’ footnotes in his own footnotes without attribution, in some chapters amounting to nearly half the footnotes. The most frequently copied here are the three works above, along with Francois du Toit’s Mirror Bible.
If removed from YouVersion, it would not be unprecedented. In 2022 TPT was removed from Bible Gateway, which led Simmons to decry the loss an example of cancel culture.
