Again, these are not our words about his predicament but his words about his predicament. Elsewhere in the same article, Fr. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother or sister has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Outside of a legal brief, no one has ever used the language exemplified above unless he had a pistol pressed to his head. Clifford has it right.
Bible translators are under great pressure from special interest groups.
They had an impossible task. It would not be surprising if none had the heart to attempt the case when sitting across the table from a biblical scholar with the original Greek open before him. There are limits, even to professional loyalties. Clifford's argument, then, should not be taken as a white flag waved by inclusivists. But he has made a crucial concession, and it is hard to see how his confreres can in the future deny what he has affirmed.