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.