Three Wise Men may have been women and not wise

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 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 authorised 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. Anglicans are debating whether words like ‘‘Chairman’’ can be replaced at committee meetings by more neutral words like ‘‘Chair’’. Synod officials denied that they have been seized by an attack of political correctness and pandering to feminists. —(Reuters)