Saturday 9 December 2017

Pope Francis wants the English translation of the Lord's Prayer changed

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13

As reported by Maham Abedi of Global News, December 8, 2017 (link in original):

Pope Francis says the words in the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ — one of the most well-known prayers in Christianity — need to be tweaked.

In an interview on an Italian TV show Wednesday, he explained that he thinks the current English translation isn’t completely accurate. The pontiff explained that the translation, which asks God “lead us not into temptation,” doesn’t work because Satan — not God — leads to sin.

“A father does not do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. It’s Satan who leads us into temptation, that’s his department,” he said during the interview.

That’s why he wants the Roman Catholic Church to consider changing the words to “do not let us fall into temptation.”

The prayer’s translations are from the Latin vulgate, which was translated from ancient Greek, which was, in turn, translated from Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.

Liturgical translations are usually done by local Churches in co-ordination with the Vatican.
As reported by Harriet Sherwood and agency in the English newspaper The Guardian, December 8, 2017 (link in original):

...The 80-year-old also highlighted that the Catholic church in France had adapted the prayer, and uses the phrase “do not let us fall into temptation” instead.

The two versions of the Lord’s Prayer most commonly used in England both say “lead us not into temptation”.

“I’m not aware of any plans to change the translation in the English-speaking world but you can certainly see the logic of doing so,” said Austen Ivereigh, the pope’s biographer.

“It is not God who tempts us into sin but the enemy of human nature. But tradition and familiarity are also important factors in weighing up any decision to modify a translation.”

The Rev Ian Paul, an Anglican theologian, said the pope’s comments would make traditionalists nervous.

“The word in question is peirasmos [from New Testament Greek] which means both to tempt and to be tested. So on one level the pope has a point. But he’s also stepping into a theological debate about the nature of evil.

“In terms of church culture, people learn this prayer by heart as children. If you tweak the translation, you risk disrupting the pattern of communal prayer. You fiddle with it at your peril.”

The Lord’s Prayer, which is memorised by millions of Christians across the world, appears in the Bible.
It speaks volumes about the state of Biblical illiteracy in England these days that a newspaper has to state that the Lord's Prayer is found in the Bible.

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