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{"id":79,"date":"2005-09-10T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2005-09-10T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.wordpress.com\/2005\/09\/10\/dont-fear-man-and-definitely-not-people\/"},"modified":"2005-09-10T21:01:00","modified_gmt":"2005-09-10T21:01:00","slug":"dont-fear-man-and-definitely-not-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2005\/09\/dont-fear-man-and-definitely-not-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Fear Man, and Definitely Not People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>For those who don\u2019t know, there\u2019s an interesting conversation going on amongst evangelicals over the translation of Bible language relating to gender. As popular English has shifted away from masculine-centered language, e.g. \u201cmankind,\u201d some evangelicals have called for a Bible of gender-neutral language wherever possible. That is, at any point where it is not essential that translation refer to masculine gender, the Bible should shift to gender-inclusive language. Where Paul says \u201cbrothers,\u201d for example, in introducing a number of his epistles, the translation should read \u201cbrothers and sisters\u201d or \u201cfellow believers.\u201d This principle makes good sense in part, for Paul certainly wasn\u2019t addressing his letters solely to male Christians. And yet this philosophy of language runs into difficulty at certain points. Here\u2019s one I\u2019ve thought up. The Bible talks about the need to fear God and not man. \u201cFear of man,\u201d as the phrase goes, is one of the central problems of the human heart. People naturally concern themselves with what other people think about them, rather than giving first priority to the opinion God has for their actions and thoughts. Such behavior is clearly a problem, for while people can affect us for a short time on earth, God holds our souls in His hands. First priority must be given to Him and His call on us to love Him and hate our sin.<\/p>\n

Sermonizing aside, this is all relevant to this particular blog because the phrase \u201cfear of people\u201d just doesn\u2019t really do it for me. The phrase \u201cfear of man\u201d has some gravity. It relates one to a great mass of humanity and suggests that one fears this mass as a whole. You can almost see a lone person standing before a teeming crowd of unfriendly faces. \u201cFear of people,\u201d on the other hand, sounds altogether psychological. It sounds like you\u2019re afraid to carry on normal conversations with others and takes away any sense of gravity. God isn\u2019t displeased with sinners because they\u2019re bad at small talk. He has wrath for them because in their sin they care more about people than they do Him. I\u2019m sure that there are positive aspects to the gender-neutral philosophy, but one can\u2019t help thinking of examples like the one above that show the inadequacy of neutralized language.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"