Dear Church Family and Friends,
I would like to recommend to you the Bible, but not just any Bible. I want to recommend The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation. Having grown tired of trying to adapt the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible so that our readings on Sunday morning are gender-inclusive, I was glad to finally discover this particular translation.
The Inclusive Bible comes to us from Priests for Equality, a group of Catholic priests who initially joined together in 1975. For these priests, their goal was to uphold a decree by the Second Vatican Council that called for church liturgy to be celebrated in the native tongues of believers and adapted to their cultures so that they might participate more fully in worship. As these priests saw it, a significant barrier to full worship was sexist language. Non-inclusive translations could no longer find accord with the rising consciousness of men and women.
For the Priests of Equality, it was not so much that the Bible needed to change but that the manner of translation needed to change. For the meaning and sense of the sacred scriptures to remain true and vital, the language used to articulate and express these scriptures necessarily had to evolve.
There will always be debates about what is the best translation for any particular word or passage. I admit to having my own reservations about certain word choices in The Inclusive Bible. Still, I am glad to have another resource to help me in my search for words that God might use to stir my soul and inspire me to faithful living.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Brooks