Is the Bible sacred or sexist?

Last Update: 11/06 10:38 am

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WICHITA, Kansas – It’s considered sacred by many but sexist by some. The Bible is at the center of a debate over whether certain words that refer only to men should be changed. Some Christians believe it’s long overdue, while traditionalists say the Word of God should not be tampered with.

"At the heart of sexism is the objectification of women,” said Reverend Gary Blaine with the University Congregational Church.

And Rev. Blaine says you don’t have to look far to find sexism in the Bible.

"The 10th Commandment says, “you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife,” Rev. Blaine said. “All of the items in this list are pieces of property, and such assumptions flow throughout the entire Bible.”

Reflecting the male-dominated society in which the Bible was written thousands of years ago, but whose language today is not considered politically correct. That’s why University Congregational Church chooses its words carefully, beginning with how it refers to God.

"’Mother’ and ‘father’, ‘she’ sometimes, ‘he’ other times,” said Rev. Dr. Meredyth Bellows with the University Congregational Church.

"I think we put God in a box when we think of God as just male, just female,” said Karen Robu with the University Congregational Church.

Likewise, followers of God are not just “sons” or “brethren”, so the pastor uses inclusive language like ‘children of God’.

While many Christians may agree with that in theory, actually changing Scripture is a touchy subject. Just two months ago, the publishers of this Bible -- Today's New International Version -- announced it would be discontinued. There was such a public outcry over the many masculine references that were changed or eliminated; many conservative churches would not use it, including First Missionary Church in Newton.

"I don't quibble with the intent of the translators, but it is more of an interpretation that what I'm comfortable with,” said Dan Quinlin with First Missionary Church.

Quinlin is not only associate pastor, but a professor of language at Bethel College. He believes that because the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek, translations to English must use modern words to be understood. For example, saying Mary was “pregnant’ instead of “great with child”. But Quinlin contends that adding words like ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ could shade the original meaning.

"To actually change what the text says, I'm hesitant to do that,” he said.

"It starts a slippery slope that we're changing the Word that's been handed down to us for centuries,” said Mike Bartless with St. Mary Catholic Church.

Many in the Catholic Church share that concern, including women who say they’ve always understood that words in the Bible like ‘man’ or ‘mankind’ also apply to them.

"The traditional grammatical gender of the persons of the Trinity should be maintained,” said Nancy Huffman with St. Mary Catholic Church.

So the war of words continues with women caught in the middle.

The Bible that’s been discontinued will go back to the drawing board and its publishers are promising a more traditional version in 2011.

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