In Galatians 4:7, the same translation problem surfaces. What the ESV translates as “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God,” the TNIV translates “So you are no longer slaves, but God’s children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs.” We talk a little about the fixing of the canonical Bible during the first centuries AD. We touch on Gnosticism, the Apocrypha and why the Gospel of Thomas is not in the canon. This political history of the Bible is news to the Alpharinos, and we are utterly enthralled, not least because Toby clearly knows his stuff, and is an inspiring teacher. David Marvin serves as the Teaching Pastor at CityBridge Community Church in Plano, Texas. Previous to taking his role there in 2023, he led a young adult ministry; “The Porch” for nine years, at Watermark Community Church. David received his master’s degree in biblical studies from the Dallas Theological Seminary. In addition to his role as a pastor, his first priority is being a husband to his wife, Calli, who is a licensed counselor. David and Calli have three children: Crew, Monroe, and Bear. To find out more about David, his latest resources, and his book, visit davidmarvin.org When God created Adam, He “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen 2:7). Adam’s creation is extraordinary and required God to use His divine power to form this being. On the other hand, Eve’s creation is less significant: “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs…and made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen 2:21-3). The means by which Eve was created is enough to be extremely suggestive that the woman is inferior to man. To begin with, Eve is a derivative of Adam. She is literally created from the rib (a very small part) of Adam, and thus is dependent on him for life. The words “she was taken out of Man” emphasize this point and indicate that Eve will occupy a place secondary to Adam. There is no suggestion here that woman might be superior or even equal to man after reading this passage. While it is impossible to argue with the written words that woman was taken from man’s rib, Trible challenges the interpretation that man was responsible for woman’s creation. She states that “human life is God’s gift; it is not possession” (81). She believes that for both man and woman, creation is an act of God and that when the man says “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” he is not implying that she is derived from him or subordinate to him. Rather, he is saying that he shares equally with the woman the dust of the ground and the origin of their lives. Ruth showed her strength in being willing to work for food and not expecting a handout. God blessed her through her union with the proprietor of the fields, Boaz. Their child became lineage to that of King David and Jesus Christ ( Ruth 4:17-22).

Throughout the Bible there are numerous positive images of women. In the Old Testament women share the image of God at creation. At the second coming of Jesus, the Church is represented as the bride of Christ. From beginning to end, the Bible includes the feminine as an integral part of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. While it is true that the Bible is written over a long period of time into specific cultures, and that some of these contexts did not give equal social advantages to women, it would not be true to say that the message of the Bible is sexist or discriminatory against women. As a father who loves and cares deeply about my kids, I pray often that God would allow them to trust in Christ at an early age, and that they would live a full life walking in a full relationship with Him.Besides talking to female strangers, He has female disciples. In a culture where the idea of women travelling around with a group of men or having the status of disciple was seriously questionable, Jesus has a number of women who are included in His circle who contributed financially to the needs of the group. The Bible, Holladay and Schuyler Brown of the American Bible Society argued, must be read in its historical context, and when the Lord's Prayer begins "Our Father . . ." that is representative of Jesus mentality and that of a near-Eastern male-dominated family of his age. The most controversial change is to words of curse in Genesis 3:16. ESV editors changed their earlier translation from “Your desire shall be foryour husband, and he shall rule over you,” to “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

It was a question that made the participants in the panel and their audience uncomfortable and that would most likely bring cries of dismay from more conservative quarters of the Christian churches.

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Of course this notion is one that clashes with the values of a society which has become preoccupied with the pursuit of equality (a pursuit which I am for), but which has come to regard equality as the erasure of difference. But what if our inability to conceptualise difference in any other category than inequality is, itself, part of the problem? If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s w

When asked the question, "What is your stance on the issue of the role of women in Church?" the Archbishop was essentially given two options: to offend a lot of people, or to deviate from the Bible. That he chose the former, in the full awareness of the "outrage" and indignation it would inevitably provoke is something for which I can only respect him. William Holladay, one of the 24 scholars who are working on the new edition, said there would be no "Hers" or "Shes" because translators must be faithful to the gender of pronouns in the original Greek and Hebrew. See Hershel Shanks, “Predilections—Is the ‘Brother of Jesus’ Inscription a Forgery?” Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2015. It breaks my heart to imagine how cultural lies around Christ, Christianity, and the church being “sexist” could possibly create a barrier to them knowing Jesus. Jesus intentionally affirmed and included women. We see a continuation of this in the early Church, from Lydia and Tabitha to Philip's daughters. The New Testament ascribes numerous roles to women in the early Church ­as teachers of theology, deacons, church leaders and prophets, and there is even a disputed reference to a female apostle called Junia.However, when it comes to the stories of the Bible, there are more examples of strong, resilient women who didn’t stop short of great achievements because they felt they weren’t able to accomplish them. They went forward, believing God would strengthen them to take on these great responsibilities, and in turn inspired women generations later to believe they can do anything through the strength of Christ.