270 - An Inclusive Language Lectionary: Readings for Year B

An Inclusive Language Lectionary: Readings for Year B
Philadelphia, Westminster, 1984. 256 pp. $9.95.

This second volume of readings for church worship may not cause as much excitement as the first in the three year series. It will serve just as well, however, to represent women and men as equal before God.

The Easter readings give good examples. In John 20, Mary Magdalene reports, "I have seen the Sovereign." The replacement of the masculine Lord may be jarring, but only until the new usage becomes familiar. When Jesus reveals he is ascending to the Father, the revision adds and Mother in brackets, because of the conviction that God should not be assigned masculine sexuality. A footnote plays fair by making clear that the addition is not in the original text. There are also references to notes in the Appendix which explain the revisions. A reading from Mark's Gospel is added to offer a story about the appointment of women to tell the disciples they will see the risen Jesus.

As an experiment, the readings deserve attention over a period of time long enough to allow the new usage to become customary. Then the Bible might help shape the language as it has done in other times and places.

Robert J. Marshall
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
Columbia, S.C.