Some Catholics are Demanding a Gender Inclusive Bible

                                                


Our time in the history of Christianity could not be reflected better than in a dispute going on in England. There is a somewhat gender neutral Bible called the New Jerusalem Bible that was approved for use in mass by the Catholic hierarchy. Then the hierarchy reversed itself and said the old males-are-more-important Bible must be used. Now a group of Catholic women are trying to reverse the decision again.

They quote the Pope who wrote, paraphrasing, "If we never listen to any new voices what will become of us?" The Pope understands perfectly that staying in the Middle Ages is a death warrant for Catholicism and Christianity in total.

This dispute within the Catholic Church is amusing because I recall it in the Presbyterian denomination some 20 years ago. There was an important gathering of religious women underwritten by many denominations. The purpose was to discuss the role of women in all religions. 

At the start of the conference there was discussion as to how prayers could take place when so many religions were present which included several concepts of spirits and gods. It was concluded the god or god-like figure, Sophia, was the closest entity to a universal concept of a god so conference prayers would be to Sophia.

I don't know if other things were accomplished at the conference but prayers to Sophia set off a firestorm of anger. In our own Presbyterian Church there was muttering at coffee and maybe at meetings, "Any group that prays to Sophia should not get a dime of our money." My wife and I, active in the Presbyterian Church back then, thought this was so funny we named a huge tree we bicycled by "Sophia" and paid homage whenever we rode past it.

I just looked up Sophia and learned she was a feminine figure in Gnosticism analogous to the human soul and simultaneous a feminine aspect of God. She was also in Hellenistic folk lore.

So, the gender of God is in play. Maybe the genders of Mary and Jesus will be next. 
 

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