This revolutionary new version, adapted from theNew Revised Standard Version and edited by six scholars-- three men and three women -- pushes the English language to new levelsof inclusive expression. This work addresses such issues as race, gender,and ethnicity more directly than ever before.

There are two reasons for this new version. The languagesinto which the Bible is rendered are changing. New manuscripts are discoveredthat are older and more reliable, and new investigations into the meanings ofwords reveal that more accurate renderings are possible.

People who have disabilities are not referred to as "theblind" or "the lame," but as "people who are blind" or "those who are lame."Because the church does not assume that God is a male being, in this versionGod is never referred to by a masculine pronoun, or by any pronoun at all. Asthe church does not believe that God is literally a father and understands"Father" to be a metaphor, "Father" is rendered in this version by a new metaphor,"Father-Mother." When Jesus is called "Son of God" or "Son of the Blessed One,"and the maleness of the historical person Jesus is not relevant, but the "Son's"intimate relation to the "Father" is being spoken about, the formal equivalent"Child" is used for "Son," and gender-specific pronouns referring to the "Child"are avoided. This version uses "the Human One" as a formal equivalent to "theSon of Man." In the genealogy that begins the Gospel of Matthew, women's names,where they are known, have been added, e.g., David and Bathsheba, the wife ofUriah, were the parents of Solomon. These are a few examples of changes madein this version.

Oxford University Press (1995)

[Tyndale House, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom]

Comparisons which include this version:

God So Loved the World
A Reference to the Trinity
Scripture Inspired by God
Some Variations in the Book of Acts
Those Who Work Iniquity
Words with Heathen Origins in the Scriptures