The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation

Being a "Bible with an agenda", I had some skepticism to the faithfulness of this translation. I was so pleased to have my concerns allayed, and after my first sampling of readings, I became extremely impressed with the scholarship and integrity of this Bible. It is a beautiful translation! Very faithful to original languages and a graceful English rendering. My favorite English translation continues to be the Revised English Bible, but since purchasing the Inclusive, I use them both about equally. I bought a second copy yesterday (office/home) plus one for my pastor and church. Between Inclusive and REB, I use these probably 90% of the time, with the remaining 10% being a mix of many Bibles: Common English, NRSV, Jerusalem, King James, Good News. I heartily encourage any serious Bible reader to include this on your shelf, and I think you'll likely find it to be one you turn to a lot. Similarly, I would have no reservation recommending this Bible as your first or primary.

An excellent translation that retains the intent and poetry found in the original languages, while deftly removing gendered references to God and elsewhere - making a text that's far more welcoming and comforting, and therefore more able to express God's message, to all people. As a Presbyterian minister/pastor, if I have any complaint, it's only that there is no online copy/paste-able version that I could access to easily include this version in our weekly liturgies/worship services.

As a pastor I can tell you that these negative reviews are coming from misogynistic and homophobic haters. The more scholarly 1* reviews are coming from fundamentalist literalists who believe the earth is only 6,000 years old because of the bible's genealogy. These people make such a big deal out of things like changing the word "Father" to "Abba" but they don't acknowledge that the Hebrew word for the "Spirit" is "Ruach" which is feminine. Don't listen to them. It's a great translation!