One of the most interesting topics is the theory that YHWH’s roots may be found in information about the ancient Goddess IO, and that YHWH is an inclusive name for an inclusive deity.
Some years ago I read the Bible and objected to passages about women. That was when works by Ruether, Stone, Daly, Schüssler Fiorenza, Eisler, etc. became available. I read all of the feminist writers I could find. Because of this reading, I looked up biblical passages in different Bibles. I began to notice something rather curious. A passage in one Bible would say “she did it” – the same passage in another Bible would say, “he did it.” “This,” my current minister would say, “This is the word of God. You can believe in it.” “Believe in it”? Which biblical passage was I supposed to believe – the “she” or the “he”?
Being a questioning person, I got serious. I searched the University of Wisconsin bookstore shelves for required reading in Hebrew and Semitic studies, acquired references listed in bibliographies of those books, read about the development of the biblical text, purchased interlinear Bibles, Hebrew and Greek grammars, analytical lexicons, concordances, commentaries, and more English versions of the Bible and eventually took a class in Hebrew. Continue reading “Translations of the Bible (and Translators) are Important to Women by Jennifer Sharp”

