A new debate has begun in the Episcopal church: should biblical references to God that use a male pronoun be replaced with a non-gendered pronoun to help create a more inclusive religion and God?
“As long as ‘men’ and ‘God’ are in the same category, our work toward equity will not just be incomplete. I honestly think it won’t matter in some ways,” Rev. Wil Gafney, a professor of the Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Texas, told the Washington Post
Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price joined Boston Public Radio Monday for another edition of All Revved Up, to talk about whether or not biblical references to God should use gendered pronouns.
Monroe told Boston Public Radio that using language that personifies God without gender is a necessary change that will make the bible more accessible to future generations. “We need a gender-fluid, non-binary deity. I am always redacting the Bible so I will always try to use as much inclusive language as I can,” Monroe said. “If you want to preach to the time you are residing in … language then has to replicate what people are using.”
Price said he felt positive about what the change in language could mean for inclusivity, but he believes changing gendered references to God could affect the meaning of the Bible.
“The challenge here is this, Jesus prayed to his heavenly father because he had a phenomenal earthy mother,” he said. "They are going to have to figure that out."
