LONDON (Reuters) – 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.

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.”
[Added by Tom] That contradicts my theory the women Magi brought gifts of shoes, porcelain knick-knacks and a sippy cup.
My comment was meant to be a joke Martha!