Lionel Posted February 11, 2004 #1 Share Posted February 11, 2004 The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men. The traditional infant Nativity play scene could be in for a drastic rewrite after the Church of England indulged in some academic gender-swapping over the three Magi at its General Synod in London this week. A committee revising the latest prayer book said the term "Magi" was a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court, and that they could well have been women. "Magi is a word which discloses nothing about numbers, wisdom or gender embodied in the term," a Synod spokesman said on Tuesday after the revision was agreed by the Church of England's parliament which meets twice a year. In the authorized 17th century King James bible used by up to 70 million worshippers in Anglican churches around the world, the gift-bearing visitors are referred to as "The Three Wise Men." Now they are to be called just "Magi" and no longer gender-specific in the Anglican prayer book. "Changing 'Wise Men' to 'Magi' seems to be an entirely sensible move," the Synod spokesman said. The revision committee said: "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility that one or more of the Magi were female cannot be excluded completely." There is no theological dispute about the gifts they brought -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- but the prayer has been changed to use the word Magi on the grounds that "the visitors were not necessarily wise and not necessarily men." Synod officials denied that the Church of England, a pillar of the Establishment in Britain, was being seized by an attack of political correctness and pandering to feminists. View: Full Article | Source: Reuters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeohn Posted February 12, 2004 #2 Share Posted February 12, 2004 interesting read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowdy Posted February 12, 2004 #3 Share Posted February 12, 2004 The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men So what were they, three stupid women?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantis Rises Posted February 12, 2004 #4 Share Posted February 12, 2004 The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men So what were they, three stupid women?? I don't think so...well, not stupid anyway...they didn't get lost. Intriguing theory, but who will believe it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalcase Posted February 12, 2004 #5 Share Posted February 12, 2004 The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men So what were they, three stupid women?? ROTFLMFAO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<bleeding_heart> Posted February 12, 2004 #6 Share Posted February 12, 2004 So what were they, three stupid women?? Must have been every woman I know would have had the sense to ask for directions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalcase Posted February 12, 2004 #7 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Yeah, lets not diss the beautiful women in our world. It would only start a war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychicPenguin Posted February 12, 2004 #8 Share Posted February 12, 2004 So what were they, three stupid women?? I wonder how three stupid women could understand astronomy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowo Posted February 12, 2004 #9 Share Posted February 12, 2004 So what were they, three stupid women?? It would certainly go a long way towards explaining the gift choices of frankencense and myrrh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphina Posted February 12, 2004 #10 Share Posted February 12, 2004 *thinks it IS nitpicking political correctness running wild again * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted February 12, 2004 #11 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Once again its PC gone mad, when is this insanity going to stop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeohn Posted February 13, 2004 #12 Share Posted February 13, 2004 if they are not men nor women maybe they are just aliens from outer space but i doubt that. They might be young people visiting the baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted February 13, 2004 #13 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Once again its PC gone mad, when is this insanity going to stop? what is PC??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffybunny Posted February 13, 2004 #14 Share Posted February 13, 2004 PC is short for Politically Correct. The trend to make everything as inoffensive as possible. i.e. the Mailman is no longer that, it is now the "Mailperson"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loque Posted February 13, 2004 #15 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I guess we can call them by the words it and them, Three wise Its from ....... Besides isn't Magi another way of saying Mage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted February 13, 2004 #16 Share Posted February 13, 2004 PC is short for Politically Correct. The trend to make everything as inoffensive as possible. i.e. the Mailman is no longer that, it is now the "Mailperson"... thx very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirini Posted February 14, 2004 #17 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Should this changed have been made a long long time ago? I find it strang that it took so long to change into the correct word! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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