First Things RSS Feed - Alvin F. Kimel, Jr. https://www.firstthings.com/author/alvin-f-kimel-jr en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:55:25 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/alvin-f-kimel-jr 60 The Grammar of Baptism https://www.firstthings.com/article/1991/12/the-grammar-of-baptism https://www.firstthings.com/article/1991/12/the-grammar-of-baptism Sun, 01 Dec 1991 00:00:00 -0500 Feminism has become a truly significant force within American culture. Its presence and power is felt in all areas of our common life, and perhaps nowhere more keenly than in our use of language. We have all become sensitized to the need to be “inclusive” in our speech. Certain usages, conventionally accepted for generations, are alleged to express and undergird a patriarchal politico-economic system and thus to serve the exclusion of women from public life. This demand for linguistic inclusivity has now penetrated into the heart of American Christianity. It goes far beyond the language with which we speak of ourselves; for now the traditional language in which Christians speak of the deity—and specifically the triune name. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is claimed to be inherently oppressive of women. Our language for God, we are told, must be made inclusive.

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