13 July 2002 -The New Lord's Prayer

After recent outbursts by various Evangelical Christian groups in the USA I feel it is time to give a piece of advice to them. Be consistent. The main problem with what is taught in many forms of Christianity is the basic inconsistencies in the teachings. To help illustrate the point here are some suggestions on how to update the "Lord's Prayer" to help it stay consistent with modern Evangelical Christian doctrines:

• "Our Father, who art in Heaven," This verse is a bit of a problem. Firstly, this implies prayers can be direct to the Father rather than through Jesus Christ. Also, by simply asserting the Father is in heaven and not mentioning the Son or the Holy Spirit it begs the question of whether these are indeed co-equal partners in Heaven according to Christian teachings. A further point of concern is that by using "our" it implies that the relationship of fatherhood is a metaphorical one accessible to all people rather than something unique to Christ and implies that when Jesus refers to "my father", he also means "our father" this is heretical against Christian teachings of Trinity. How about as an alternative: "Oh Jesus! You, The Father and The Holy Spirit are One"?
  
  
• "Hallowed be thy Name," This is not too bad other than its continuation of the over emphasis on the Father. Keeping in mind the core of Christian teachings which is about Christ dying on the cross for our sins, it is not the exalting of the Father's name that needs to be the top priority in the main prayer of Christianity but showing that God incarnate as Jesus lowered himself to the status of a human being to die for our sins. To give this teaching the correct emphasis, should this line of the prayer perhaps be changed to "Lowered as a man you came"?
  
  
• "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth As it is in heaven" This line contains real problems. Firstly, it implies that we are asking God to bring about an earthly kingdom organised according to his will. But in Christian teachings the kingdom is only in heaven and what makes this kingdom come into existence is the apocalypse and the end of the world. Also, the emphasis on having the will of God done implies something altogether too Islamic (Islam means peace through submission to the will of God) and in a major Christian prayer like this Christians need to focus not upon the deeds necessary to implement God's will on earth but on the beliefs Christians should hold to be saved. How about replacing this verse with "Your Kingdom is in Heaven, and you save us from this sinful world".
  
  
• "Give us this day our daily bread" This line continues the idea of praying for earthly things and would resonate better with Christian teachings if it focussed, not on bread as such but on the communion bread and wine representing Christ's body and blood through which Christianity teaches that salvation is reached. How about replacing this verse with "You gave us your communion blood"?
  
  
• "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". This line really causes problems. Left as it is, it implies that people can gain forgiveness from God simply by forgiving the sins that others do to them. But in Christian teachings God's forgiveness needs the blood of Christ. Continuing from the previous suggestion, perhaps this line could be changed to be: " And washed us of our sins by your painful death"?
  
  
• "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". This verse doesn't cause too much of a problem other than its emphasis on trying to do what is right. Christian teachings show that we can never hope to avoid sinning but that by having the right doctrines we are saved by beliefs alone. Given this emphasis, perhaps an appropriate replacement line would be : "So let us not doubt our doctrine, by which we are saved"?
  
  
• "For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory". This only has the problem that it emphasises God's control over the kingdom, the power and glory. It focuses on God's ability to bestow , Kingdom Power and Glory as He likes. However, according to Christian teachings, his Kingdom is in the next life - not this - and is only to be given to those who believe in the correct doctrines about Christ dying for our sins, as God incarnate. In short this kingdom is only for proper Christians. So, how about using the line: "For ours will be the Kingdom, in paradise unending"
  
  
• "Forever and ever, Amen". This line causes a real problem. All Christian prayers should end "in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost". Simply ending like this suggests that this rule has an exception - and such an important one! No. To be a proper Christian prayer it should end appropriately as: "in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. - Amen".
  
  

So, bringing all these thoughts together, The new improved "Lord's Prayer" would be:

Oh Jesus! You, The Father and The Holy Spirit are One, 
Lowered as a man you came, 
Your Kingdom is in Heaven, and you save us from this sinful world: 
You gave us your communion blood 
And washed us of our sins by your painful death. 
So let us not doubt our doctrine, by which we are saved. 
For ours will be the Kingdom, in paradise unending, 
In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. 

Amen

Of course, reforming the Lord's Prayer is only one way of making it consistent with modern Christian teachings. The other way is to re-examine Christian teachings in the light of what Jesus actually taught in the Lord’s Prayer.