The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version

Victor R. Gold, ed., New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Edited by Victor Roland Gold, Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr, Sharon H. Ringe, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr., Barbara A. Withers. This is a politically correct adaptation of the NRSV which eliminates all "offensive" language in the Bible. "God our Father" (offensive to women) is amended to "God our Father-Mother." "Darkness" as a metaphor for ignorance (offensive to blacks) is amended to "night." References to God's "right hand" (offensive to left-handed people) are amended to "mighty hand." The exhortation to "obey your parents" (offensive to children) is softened to "heed your parents." The introduction explains:

This version has undertaken the effort to replace or rephrase all gender specific language not referring to particular historical individuals, all pejorative references to race, color, or religion, and all identifications of persons by their physical disability alone, by means of paraphrase, alternative renderings, and other acceptable means of conforming the language of the work to an inclusive idea.

In an attempt to justify their alterations the editors appeal to the idea that "Christians in every culture around the world want to hear their Bible in the language of their time."

"Why do we need so many versions of the Bible?" people often ask whenever a new one is introduced. The answer is twofold. First, we need new versions because the languages into which the Bible is rendered (hundreds worldwide) are themselves changing. New words and expressions come into use and older expressions fall out of use, seem tired and trite, or do not convey much meaning at all. Do we ask "whither" we are going, or claim that we are going "thither"? No, we ask "where" and go "there." Christians in every culture around the world want to hear their Bible in the language of their time, speaking specifically to them, as well it should.

But they seem to realize that not everyone is up to speed with the PC language, and so they express the hope that their version will "influence the development of important changes in language."

This new, inclusive version of the Bible not only reflects the newest scholarly work on the most reliable manuscripts available, it also reflects and attempts to anticipate developments in the English language with regard to specificity about a number of issues such as gender, race, and physical disability. Bibles are widely read and therefore can serve to influence the development of important changes in language. Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into the German spoken by the common people in his country is an example of this. Luther's translation helped to develop and unify German as not only a spoken, but also a written language.

Typical of the version is the treatment of John 5:26–27, in which all masculine words for God are eliminated:

At this tortured rendering one academic reviewer quipped, "Who could help but be astonished? The language neuterers now make an additional step of exegesis necessary: The fixation with leveling out differences must first be decoded before the meaning of the text can be considered." ¹

1. James R. Edwards, review article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41 (March 1998), p. 127.

"The PC Bible"
Wall Street Journal Editorial Page
September 5, 1995

We suppose it had to happen. Sooner or later someone was bound to notice that the Word of God isn't politically correct.

Sure enough. Out from Oxford University Press this month is a new translation of the New Testament and Psalms that purports to set things right. This "inclusive" version is intended, the introduction says, to "provide direction and sustenance to those who long for justice."

The injustices, it seems, are legion. In case you hadn't noticed, let us deconstruct the Scriptures for you, as seen through the eyes of the six American scholars who edited this new volume. We swear on a stack of King James Bibles that we aren't making up the following:

To start with, all those "begats" favor fathers over mothers. Out they go, and whenever the wife of a biblical husband is known, the editors add her name. Out, too, are metaphors about darkness as evil and light as good, which, we are told, are offensive to people of color. Similarly, references to the blind, the deaf, and the lame are insensitive to people with disabilities, and so they are changed to "those who are blind," etc. And isn't the phrase "right hand of God" unfair to those who happen to be left-handed? "Mighty" hand is more sensitive.

Language of abuse and servitude is also out. Hence, "slaves" become "enslaved people"; and parents "guide," not "discipline," their children, who in turn are told to "heed," not "obey," their parents. References to "circumcision" are vexing, but the editors sadly concede that they can't come up with an adequate gender-free substitute.

But the big challenge comes in how to deal with God him-, her-, it-self. The editors' solution is to ban pronouns and keep repeating the genderless word "God." The words "Lord" and "King" are also taboo ("Ruler" or "Sovereign" is substituted), and the patriarchal "Kingdom of God" becomes "Dominion of God." As for God the "Father," in this version, it's always "Father-Mother." Satan, feminists take note, gets similar gender-free treatment.

References to Jesus pose particular problems of their own. The words "he" and "son" are permitted in mentions of Jesus's life on earth. But the pre-existent and post-crucifixion Christ get no gender. "Master" becomes "Teacher" and the doubly offensive "Son of Man" becomes "the Human One."

Needless to say, none of this is very poetic. It's also pretty pathetic to watch theologians waste their time worrying that a left-handed, blind, black woman might somehow think that the Bible excludes her, when the main message of the text teaches exactly the opposite. Apparently the contemporary equivalent of pondering how many angels can fit on the head of a pin is to calculate the number of gender offensive words in the Bible. The theological seminaries aren't immune to the cultural and linguistic extremism that flourishes on many university campuses these days, where words like "freshman" are verboten.