The "Protestant" Lord's Prayer - "For thine is the kingdom..."

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sbee0
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sbee0

Guest
The “Protestant” version of the Lord’s prayer always ends with “For thine is the kingdom, power and glory, forever and ever, Amen” line.

We don’t say that line to end the Lord’s prayer but at Mass we do say something similar - after the Lord’s prayer, the priest says a prayer that includes “Look not on your sins but on the faith of your church and grant us the peace…” and then we say “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever” - which is basically the same as the protestant end of the Lord’s prayer.

From what I understand this line is said by Protestants because of the Greek translation indicated it was part of the Lord’s Prayer but the Latin translation seemed to indicate it was added later. Is this right? Then why do we still say something like it at Mass?
 
Last edited:
First thing - not all Protestants use this ending. I don’t recall the last time I used it, or that I’ve heard it used by anyone I know. It is a textual variant, not found in the oldest manuscripts (bracketed in some Bible versions to indicate this), so it’s unlikely it was part of the original autograph. Nevertheless, since the Prayer itself is considered an outline (at least by Protestants I know), and this acknowledges God’s power and might, I see no problem with using it if you want to.

Hope this helps.

Pax!
 
I do know that this ending is used in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. I’m not sure as to the origin of it though.
 
Because it is not included in Matthew 6. The Embolism prayer “Look not on…” has been prayed since the early church after the Our Father. After that the Doxology “For Thine is the kingdom…” has been prayed to give God honor and glory.

I just love the Embolism prayer especially the part with “keep us safe in all our worry and despair” or however it is translated into English. It was one of the big surprises when I was entering RCIA that we are praying for our worries and despairs during every Mass. I heard a homily on the embolism prayer about 3 years ago as it fit in with the readings. I tried searching for the history of the embolism but there were to many pages with the medical meaning. Maybe one of the priests or deacon could help?
 
Sbee0 said:
From what I understand this line is said by Protestants because of the Greek translation indicated it was part of the Lord’s Prayer but the Latin translation seemed to indicate it was added later. Is this right? Then why do we still say something like it at Mass?
Click to expand...
That section of the Lord’s Prayer is the result of additional material in the later Greek manuscripts. It is generally a holdover from the KJV of the Bible which primarily relies on printed manuscripts which used primarily medieval and Renaissance age Greek manuscripts as their textual basis.
 
That prayer is an ancient doxology, often prayed after the Lord’s Prayer (it’s included in the Didache, for example). From my understanding, some copyists included it in certain editions of the Scriptures, which caused it to get into the KJV, which is why English speaking Protestants include it as part of the Lord’s Prayer.

To sum up, it is a good and ancient prayer, but it is not part of the Lord’s Prayer proper.
 
Last edited:
It is first seen written in the Didache, which is an ancient Christian writing from the late first and early second century. It is one of the earliest non canon Christian writing (if not the earliest)
 
Last edited:
I’ve heard that that ending was added so that the prayer did not conclude with the word “evil.”

Got a hard question, ask a lazy man. Yeah, there’s a lot of rationalization about translation, etc. but I subscribe to the simplest explanation. But I have an open mind and always welcome a better explanation.
 
In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the Doxology includes the Trinity and only the priest says it:

Priest: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever.
  • = bless yourself. A Byzantine Christian ALWAYS blesses himself or herself every time the Three Divine Persons are mentioned Personally.
People: Amen.

In fact, in the daily prayers of any lay Byzantine Christian, he or she ALWAYS substitutes the following for the Doxology:

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.

A layperson NEVER prays the Doxology after the Our Father. That is only for the priest/bishop.
 
P.S. The earliest mention of the Doxology after the Our Father in the Divine Liturgy is (if memory serves) in the Codex Barberini in the 8th century. So the Protestants probably stole that from us. (True trivia tidbit for your friends: Protestants went to Constantinople to get the Patriarch to join with them against the Catholic Church. The patriarch refused. Why? They didn’t believe in the seven sacraments. 😀)
 
Right, the laypeople don’t say it, only the priest. I knew that, I just didn’t mention it.
 
otrrl said:
I’ve heard that that ending was added so that the prayer did not conclude with the word “evil.”
Click to expand...
When the Ruthenian Divine Liturgy in English was revised almost a decade ago, there was an official comment that “deliver us from the evil one” would be a more accurate translation–but that they refrained from the change to keep the form that united English-speaking Christians. The basic translation we and Protestants both use is pre-reformation.

hawk
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top