Why we need a new Lord’s Prayer
I have a confession: I detect myself increasingly fidgety every time I say the Lord's Prayer co-ordinate to one of the accustomed forms in English linguistic communication. It all began with a mail service I wrote v years agone on the poetic structure of Jesus' teaching, including the Lord's Prayer, and the fidgetiness gets worse each time I say the prayer with others. Let me explicate.
The 'traditional' version of the Lord's Prayer every bit currently used is actually slightly different from the historical version constitute in the BCP, which is slightly different again from the version of Matt half-dozen.ix–13 in the AV. But they share a very particular poetic shape in the get-go one-half, and this determines both the rhythm by which the prayer is said and also affects the way many people sympathise it. The shape consists of a two sets of three phrases:
1a Our Father
2a who fine art in heaven
3a hallowed be thy proper name
1b thy kingdom come
2b thy will exist done
3b on earth as it is in heaven
This shape is effected by iii things. First, the opening address 'Our Male parent in sky' has been extended past turning God's location 'in heaven' into a relative clause 'who art…'. This leads to the 2d characteristic: the pause introduced between the first clause and the second. You will be aware of this if you e'er lead this prayer in public; if yous say 'Our Begetter [intermission]' and then those you lot are leading will automatically revert to the traditional form 'who art…', whereas if you lot keep going, anybody volition join yous in the modernistic form 'Our Male parent-in-heaven'. The third characteristic effecting this 3 ten ii construction is the inversion inside 'hallowed exist thy name' where the verb comes first, in dissimilarity to the following two phrases where the verb comes at the end.
These iii features are in contrast to the style Jesus really says the prayer in Matt 6.9–thirteen. As David Wenham explored in his article inExpository Times 121.8 (May 2010), the Greek text reads as follows:
Begetter ours the-one in the heavens
Hallowed-exist the name of-you
Come the kingdom of-you
Done the will of-you lot
As in heaven even on earth
The bread ours the coming-day give to-u.s.a. today
And forgive to-us the debts of-the states
As even we forgive the debtors of-u.s.a.
And not bring us to temptation
But evangelize united states from the evil
Equally Wenham points out, the structure then is:
half-dozen words Opening address
4 words Get-go invocation in relation to God
4 words Second invocation in relation to God
4 + 6 words Third invocation in relation to God with second clause
8 words invocation for our needs
half dozen + 7 words First invocation in relation to ourselves with second clause
vi words Second invocation in relation to ourselves
6 words 3rd invocation in relation to ourselves
It is immediately apparent that, in the Greek text, the opening address consists of a single phrase, that the bones word order is the same in the 3 sayings near the name, kingdom and will of God, that these three belong together, and therefore that the concluding invocation to the first one-half ('as in heaven fifty-fifty on globe') would naturally be read every bit applying to all three.
What is truly fascinating is to meet the way that modern versions of the Lord's Prayer attend to some aspects of the actual text, but (constrained by the weight of tradition) do non correct them all. So we have lost the relative clause 'who fine art…' merely we take retained the change in give-and-take society between the starting time and the second of the three invocations. This is even found in actual Bible translations, and then (for example) the TNIV retains the form of the modern Lord'southward Prayer inherent from the traditional form, rather than really translating the Greek text faithfully equally you might promise.
Come and join u.s.a. for the secondFestival of Theology on Wednesday October 17th!
What impact does this accept on the meaning of the prayer equally we pray it? At that place are ii things to notation. Commencement, since the 'hallowed by thy name' is attached to the opening address, information technology loses all its force, and becomes a polite term of deference. There is a parallel here with Muslim practice in mentioning the name of Mohammed, which is customarily followed by the phrase 'peace be upon him' (PBUH). In terms of language effects, this phrase does not office as arequest or invocation that Mohammed might be blessed with peace; it simply functions as a customary term of respect, much as we would refer to the Queen every bit 'Your majesty'. In the Lord's Prayer, we are in this form effectively maxim 'Your are our Father, you dwell in sky, and your name is holy'.
The second affair this does is and so separate the hallowed of God's name from the doublet of asking that God's kingdom come up and that God's will exist washed. I am currently at our diocese conference, and was struck by the comment of a national church leader who is i of the invitee speakers who stated that 'the prayer starts with the kingdom and ends with the kingdom.' You can but call back the prayer starts with the kingdom if 'Hallowed exist thy proper noun' has lapsed into a customary term of deference instead of beingness the commencement invocation.
Just in the prayer equally Jesus taught information technology, the prayerstarts with the desire that God's proper noun (that is, his character) be admit as holy, alongside his kingdom coming and his will being done. In other words, confession of who God is, and recognition of his holiness, is what Jesus asks u.s.a. to pray commencement. If nosotros miss this, and so it makes information technology easier to avoid the 'announcement' aspects of mission and evangelism, and easier to reduction mission to social action.
Final week, the Church of England released a video about 'The Church building and the Estates':
Stephen Kneale, who is himself involved in ministry in this context, offered some observations from his own perspective equally a non-Anglican. He was impressed to run into the testimony of those willing to engage:
At present, there is so much correct almost information technology. There are people going into deprived communities, clearly wanting to honey and serve the people there. I liked the focus on 'accompanying' people and taking on some of their issues and begetting their burdens. I actually liked the emphasis on living in and amidst the folk on the estate. At that place is loads to like.
Only, equally someone from a more Reformed tradition, he as well had concerns about what was being expressed:
Three particular things stood out. One was the vicar arguing that people simply need to know that 'they're loved and forgiven past God.' Now, unless I am badly misreading my Bible, that isnon the bulletin people need to hear. They demand to hear that they are loved andtin be forgiven by God…Second, the same vicar insisted that people need to know they're loved and forgiven 'rather than come to church and go on about sin.' But if they don't know nigh sin, what exactly practice they need to be forgiven for? If all that matters is God loves them, what on world is he doing forgiving them when they're alright as they are?
Third, in that location was a repeated emphasis on 'doing expert'. Now, I'm all for doing skillful. I think loving people is of import. Hither is the nub of the problem: Social action and evangelism are not the same affair. The video emphasises expert works and yet says nothing of the gospel. Information technology isall doing good (which is noble in a sense) while incorporating none of the gospel.
Social action and evangelism are inseparable. Then, nobody is arguing that doing good is a bad affair. In fact, unless our gospel is backed up by a genuine honey for the people nosotros are reaching – and that necessarily includes meeting their physical and emotional needs too – then we may have the right message but information technology will seem hollow to those nosotros are trying to reach. Nosotros needboth the right gospel bulletinand the right gospel action to back up what we are proverb. But to offering people just good works with no gospel is to comfort them in their immediate need, whilst failing to do anything about their deepest demand.
These are important criticisms, and nosotros need to listen to them. Stephen doesn't have much time for those in his own tradition who criticise the message andaren'twilling to make the costly commitment of mission in these areas:
Where Evangelicals should feel a stinging rebuke, yet, is in the fact that here are people willing to go. We tin can decry the message being presented all we desire, simply all credit to them that they are willing to go to where many of u.s. won't.
But that is non his position, since heis working in this kind of context. So his critique has credibility.
Now, I am not suggesting that praying the Lord'south Prayer in the style we practicecauses this loss of connectedness between proclamation and social activeness. But maybe it just makes it a piffling chip easier. If we prayed the prayer the way Jesus actually taught it, I think we would exist reminded of these points: that the central concern of our lives should beboth that God is knownand that justice, healing, and forgiveness should come. The one cannot exist reduced to the others.
Simply is information technology possible to pray the prayer differently in practise? The Greek discussion order would suggest that we should suit the second and tertiary petition to the grade of the commencement:
Hallowed exist your name
Come be your kingdom
Done exist your will…
but that but sounds odd, and isn't English. (So was 'Hallowed exist your name' really ever natural English either?) Instead, information technology is easy to suit the first petition to the form of the 2d and third:
Your name be hallowed
Your kingdom come
Your will be done…
From at present on, that is what I am going to try and say (though habits take some time to modify) and I hope information technology might catch on. It is a simple reminder that, for Jesus, seeing God known as both loving father and holy lord was his first priority, and that proclamation and activeness are singled-out but vest together. If these are good enough for Jesus, shouldn't they be for us too?
Boosted note: I take just spotted that in a previous post I pointed out: 'Colin Buchanan (in his Grove booklet) notes the additional versions produced in Australia and New Zealand, which too try to match the Greek text by restructuring the opening petitions 'Your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your volition be done…'.
And then it is certainly possible!
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