Political Correctnesscontinued ....

AND THE BIBLE HASN'T ESCAPED

It could hardly be expected that the P.C school would overlook the scriptures in their correcting campaign. We do readily admit that the Bible is fairly heavily orientated towards the masculine, due to the times in which it was written; so we do get statements like Man shall live by bread alone (1), but for well over four hundred years it has been taken as a generic term for the human race and there have been no reports from womenfolk that they have ever felt left out of the promises of God because the feminine noun is not used. If of course at any time they do question it, sympathetic pastors would always be willing to re-assure them. There are of course many references in Scripture which clearly cover both sexes. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (2). As many as received Him (Jesus) to them gave He the authority to become the children of God (3). Come to Me all you who labour and I will give you rest (4). Whosoever believeth on Him (Jesus) has everlasting life (5).

It is unfortunate that the Inclusive Version of the Bible refers to Jesus as the Child of God instead of the Son of God. This is a serious departure from traditional theology, as He is the only-begotten Son, and His Sonship is unique. A further questionable insertion is that of calling God Father/Mother. This is quite unwarranted because Jesus authorised His disciples to address God as Our Father, and Jesus Himself addressed God as Father or Holy Father. We can hardly improve on that.

Another interesting item in the Inclusive Version is found in the Gospel of Matthew (6). A change has been made from other versions which describe that great crowds came to Jesus bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind and the dumb etc. The Inclusive version changes these words from nouns to verbs, so we read that great crowds came to Jesus bringing with them those who were lame and those who were blind etc. This eliminates the idea that the chief characteristics of these people were their disabilities. They confirm that this is consistent reading from the Greek text. This seems helpful,