Because the scriptures weren’t only written to men.
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If you grew up with
With some exceptions (and I’ll get to them in a bit) most of us Christians are agreed these verses don’t only refer to men. They refer to anyone who follows or seeks God; anyone whom he interacts with. Or not.
Unless a verse refers to specific men, like Abraham or Moses or David or Simon Peter, or unless a verse refers to the specific male-only duties of husbands and fathers, it should rightly be interpreted as
So when the L
Leviticus 19.3 KJV - Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the L
ORD your God.
—this doesn’t mean, even though it clearly says
Properly, ish refers to any human being, whether ish/“man” or
Well if that’s what it properly means, why not just translate it “person,” and clear up any doubt? And in fact this is what most bible translations do.
- Amplified: “Each of you shall respect his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the L
ORD your God.”- CSB: “Each of you is to respect his mother and father. You are to keep my Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.”
- ESB: “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the L
ORD your God.”- ISV: “Each of you is to fear his mother and father. “Observe my Sabbaths. I am the L
ORD your God.”- MEV: “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you will keep My Sabbaths: I am the L
ORD your God.”- NASB: “Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the L
ORD your God.”- NET: “Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the L
ORD your God.”- NIV: “Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the L
ORD your God.”- NLT: “Each of you must show great respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the L
ORD your God.”- NRSV: “You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the L
ORD your God.”
Believe it or don’t, a lot of these translations do not consider themselves gender-inclusive. You can tell: They still insist on using the masculine pronoun “his” to describe “every one of you,” figuring it’s more accurate than “their”—and generic enough. Yet even so, y’notice all of ’em translated ish as “everyone,” instead of the literal “man”—because the verse does apply to everyone. Not just men.
The gender-inclusive translations want to make this crystal clear, so they drop the pronoun “his” in favor of gender-neutral ones. They swapped singular for plural: “They” instead of “he.”
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Or “you” instead of “he.”
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Whatever makes it most obvious that the scriptures are addressed to all.
Of course, controversy.
Obviously there are people who are perfectly happy with their favorite bible translations. (Particularly those who worship the
There is the valid concern of how a gender-inclusive translation makes the bible less exact. Fr’instance Psalm 1. The psalmist referred to a generic individual (“Blessed is the ish/‘man’”) and it’s probably best to keep that translation individual (“Blessed is the person”).
Problem is, we use pronouns. And English has no gender-neutral singular pronouns. A number of us use “they” and “their” singularly; I frequently do. But a number of sticklers find this awkward, and really don’t wanna do that. Hence the
The obvious problem: The psalmist was writing about a devout person, not a group. It needs to be made clear that God blesses us on an individual, case-by-case basis. Yes, he can and does bless people-groups and nations. But that’s not what the psalmist intended to teach. Our translations always need to consider the author’s intentions. We don’t wanna slip inaccurate ideas into the text.
Likewise there’s the valid concern that a gender-inclusive translation might make a passage inclusive where it shouldn’t be. Fr’instance God’s commands to the ancient Hebrews about their priests. These commands were only for men. ’Cause back then, only men could serve as priests.
Here’s where we get to the dumber worries.
Obviously
Yeah, there’s also the suspicion such translations are the product of some sneaky liberal agenda. Meant to weaken men, over-empower women, and turn the church into something powerless and corrupt. Of course, when we look at all the adjectives these folks use to warn people away from this “agenda”—an “impotent church,” an “emasculated leadership,” a “sissified gospel”—notice how all of ’em are references to men’s genitals. Frankly I find it downright disturbing.
I’m not sure how these men reconcile their macho concepts of church leadership, with the biblical description of the church as Christ’s bride.
I’m guessing they don’t wanna. But let’s stop talking about their wholly inappropriate phallolatry, shall we?
Gender-neutering God?
Another thing the naysayers fret about, is the belief if you let some translators have their way, they’ll go overboard and make God gender-inclusive.
And to be fair, I’ve heard Christians in theologically liberal churches do this. Instead of calling God “our Father,” or referring to the L
Okay, lemme point out two things. First of all, God technically has no gender. God is spirit,
Yes, by custom we use masculine pronouns for God. (Same as, in languages with a formal form of “you,” by custom we use the informal “you” to address God.) This was a human practice which God goes along with. Jesus’s point in calling him Father
Which brings me to the second thing. Christianity reaches out to the lost. Consequently we’ve got a lot of unhealthy people among us. Working on getting healthy, but still. They grew up in environments, including churches, where masculinity was worshiped, not God. Such people are gonna have serious hangups about a male God: They’re gonna imagine him as an angry male deity, not unlike their angry earthly fathers.
While they’re getting over these hangups,
Yeah, temporarily. Not permanently. They can’t spend the rest of their lives fearing men, or avoiding the customary ways we refer to God. ’Cause some of us have no such hangups, and God is our loving Dad.
Where it goes wrong is when people refuse to heal. I’ve seen what goes on in their churches: Instead of recognizing God is an infinitely better Father than their earthly parents, they refuse to see God as any kind of father, and demand the right to invent their own analogies instead of accepting the one Jesus taught us. Deep down they’d like to neuter their own abusive fathers, but since they can’t do that, they’ll neuter God. Then claim they’re now healthy. They surely aren’t.
The point of the bible is to reveal God to us, and explain what he’s like and what he wants of us. When we reject the bible’s ideas and embrace our own, or when our interpretations of the bible make God less clear instead of more… well, it’ll appeal to those people who’re already trying to avoid God, but it’s gonna drive away all those people who truly seek him. That’s why the churches who insist God must only be described as our Parent, tend to attract only
So how do we tell whether a Christian group is supporting or resisting gender inclusiveness for good or evil reasons? Same as usual: Fruit.
Do they insist on gender-inclusive language because there’s no male or female in Christ?
Are they trying to draw more people to God, or insisting for no good reason we have to interpret God through their small lenses? Are they making him more accessible, or trying to drive people away because they’re not comfortable?
Yep, you’ll know them by their fruits.
