The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-03-07
Studies in the Gospel According to Luke.

been done by copyists who thought it
desirable to reduce to uniformity the
two forms of the Model Prayer. Ger.
tain Of these additions have been re-
teined in our Common Version. SAC
cording to the overwhelming weight of
critical opinion however" says Ooster-
zee, "the Lords Prayer as given by Luke
should read thus: Father. Hdloaced be
thy name; Thy kingdom come; Give
as dag By day Our daily bread: and
forgive as our sins, for aoe also forgive
eve,y one that IS indebted to as And
lead as not into temptation.
Matthew's rendering of the Model
Prayer being the more complete, has
rightly passed into general Christian
usage.
The Lords Prayer, for comprehensive
ness. simplicity and beauty, has no par
allel At the Congress of Religions, held
in Chicago in 1893, it was the prayer Sc.
lected from the literature of all religions
to be offered at the opening session. Its
breadth, its charity, it's divineness, it's
sweet reasonableness. make it the peer.
less prayer. 1t must continue the model
while men continue to pray on the face
of the earth.
The Revisers committed their chief
outrage in their rendering of this pray
or. The clause, Deliver as from evil,
they very properly placed in the margin
of Luke's rendering. But it is unques-
tionably integral in Matthew's render
ing The Revisers, in both instances,
translate, Deliver us from the evil one .
the word zone" being in italics, to signi-
fly that it was by the translators sup
piled. While there is undoubtedly in
the original an implication that the evil
from which we need to be saved is per-
sonified, and therefore distinct from the
impersonal evil Of nature, to translate
the original in such a manner as to
make it suggest to the average Chris
tian recognition of personal devil, is
to commit what we think may be fairly
characterized as an outrage. This mis-
translation has, we are sure, more than
any other single objection, stood in the
way Of the popular acceptance of the
Revised Testament. The Revisers
ought, in consistency with their own
rule, to have rendered the passage which
shortly after occurs in the Sermon on
the Mount. namely, sag unto you, Re
sist not evil, in this extraordinary style:
sag unto you. Resist not the eUa ONE.
Both etymology, under fair construc.
ton, and human nature, are against the
preposterous translation vainly prof
fered by the Revisers.
The Revisers again made mistake,
we think, in placing in the margin the
doxology from the Model Prayer; For
thine is the kingdom, and the poscer,
and the glory fOreUer. Amen. While
the Revisers themselves confess that
these words, with variations. are found
in many authorities, some ancient" we
believe the words should be retained in
the text, rather than thrust into the
margin, because the reasonable pre-
sumption is that they were used by the
Master as the customary doxology at
the close of prayers. From the use Paul
makes of this essential ascription, and
because of it's suggestion found in the
Old Testament. we are persuaded that
it was the actual end of the Model
Prayer. 1t would, in that case, be
omitted by the reporters. as benedic-
tions are now omitted from popular re-
ports of sermons. But it was in the
early ages restored; and it held it's place
undisputed until the presumptuous Re-
visers attempted to exclude it, 1t will
hold its place, it is safe to say, against
the Recommendation of the Revisers.
The Model Prayer is our prayer, not
as yoke upon our praying, but as an
indication of what the prayer Of con.
scious child Of God should be to his
Father. 1t becomes our prayer, not
when we mechanically repeat it, but
when it expresses our existing thoughts
and desires.
2. A Parable Teaching Free
dom and Earnestness in Prayer,
VS.. 5-S.
The parable OF prayer Jesus then
draws is faithful to Oriental life. He
appeals to his nearer, asking him how,
under certain circumstances, he would
pray. A friend arrives at your home
from distance at midnight.-for it is
the heated season. when day travel is
well-nigh impossible. This arrival, be-
ing unexpected. finds you unprepared.
You would set bread before him. But
unfortunately your supply Of bread of
the housewives last baking in the open
air oven, is entirely exhausted. To-
morrow would have brought new bak-
ing and fresh supply. But the house
wife tells you that such neighbor, liv-
ing near by, has baked today. You go
and ask that neighbor,-as you have
done before, as that neighbor has done
by you again and again,-for loaf or
two to serve your emergency. But your
neighbor. when reused from his sleep, is
not at first quite himself. He replies
that his door is shut for the night and