kalikshama
Posts: 14805
Joined: 8/8/2010 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: belleunchained I think this issue depends on whether one believes the Bible is A) the absolute word of God, B) some suggestions for leading a good life, C) a load of bull, or D) a work of literature. If the answer's C, there's no point in arguing. If it's A, one would be offended that they changed a single blessed word. Many Christians and others fall into B: the Bible is a set of helpful suggestions. In this case, you'd want these suggestions to be understood and appreciated by the masses. In that case, changes in wording matter less than getting the message and morals across. When I was a child, the use of "he/him" as a default pronoun confused me. The default "he/him" is growing rarer. I have a scientific degree and almost never see this usage in journal articles or textbooks for any field, whether it's medicine, psychology, sociology, or biology. "He/him" is also hard to find in the popular press, news, and novels. You're more likely to find it in documents written 20 or more years ago. So I'd say that if churches want to use a gender-neutral Bible for personal comfort or enhanced understanding (the way many use plain English Bibles), that should be fine under this logic. Now, if you appreciate the Bible as literature (D), I'd go old-school. The antiquated language makes the words feel special and beautiful, even if I don't agree with them. -Belle, feminist, agnostic, and sometimes over-thinker Nice post Belle. Welcome to the forums.
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