Content area
Full Text
Priests for Biblical Equality, trans. The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation. Lanham, Md.: Sheed & Ward, 2009. 808 pp. $29.95.
This 2009 publication is a paperback version of the hardback that appeared in 2007. It contains the entire Bible. The OT books follow the Hebrew order (Torah, Prophets, Writings). At the end of the Writings, several books from the OT Apocrypha appear: Baruch, Tobit, Judith, 1-2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach. These are included as part of "the Hebrew Scriptures," though historically speaking this is problematic as they were never part of the Hebrew-Aramaic canon in the same sense that the Tanak (traditional OT corpus) was. The NT contains the traditional books in their canonical order. There are some explanatory footnotes in the OT portion. Footnotes almost disappear in the NT section and are limited mainly to text-critical observations.
The "Priests for Biblical Equality" who are credited with making or overseeing this translation seem to be a dissident Roman Catholic group dating back to 1975. A website indicates that they are associated with a group called Catholics Speak Out, who state, "We support gender equality, including ordination for women; the civil rights of gay,...