Glad to see this piece from the Associated Press pointing out that North America’s top selling Bible, the New International Version will be updated to reflect changes in Biblical scholarship, including changes to some gender terms. The revision is scheduled to be published in 2011.
While the gender of God is not up for grabs, the new version will, according to the article, drop “gender-specific terms when translators judged that the original text didn’t intend it.” So, “sons of God” becomes “children of God,” for instance.
Certain feminists <ahem> might say the changes don’t sound like they go far enough, but at least the new version will make some headway. The conservative Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, for example, supports the updates overall; a spokesman said the group would be “reserving judgment.”
It may be a mostly moot point: most of the changes won’t have anything to do with gender inclusivity.