Bible - Versions & Translations

Changing the Lord's Prayer: The Ecumenical Danger

By The Protestant Alliance of Britain, edited by Dr. Paul M. Elliott
What is the danger behind the Vatican's effort to change the wording of Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4?

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part three (final) of a series. Read part two.

Editor's Note: This is the third of three articles highlighting, once again, the efforts of the Roman Catholic church to control Bible translation - both Catholic and nominally Protestant - worldwide. This material originally appeared in The Reformer, the magazine of the Protestant Alliance of Great Britain. We again acknowledge, with thanks, the permission of the Alliance to reproduce this material.

In this installment The Reformer discusses the true meaning of the phrase "lead us not into temptation" in the Lord's prayer, and the ecumenical danger behind the Vatican's efforts to change it. - Dr. Paul Elliott

 

True Understanding

To understand this part of the Lord's Prayer correctly, it cannot be separated from the words following it: "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."

"Lead us not into temptation..." Do not bring us into testing, proving, which might provoke the old man to rise up in lust and unbelief, or Satan to have an excuse to make us doubt the Lord's grace and mercy or our salvation. "But deliver us from evil..." Deliver us from that old nature within, which rises up and makes us sin. Deliver us from Satan and his hellish crew which are stronger than we are to tempt us and, if either comes, help us find that "way of escape" in the temptation.

"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Our initial salvation is of God's doing, each time we overcome our old nature or Satan it is His enabling, and when we finish this earthly race and enter heaven with its "cloud of witnesses" our only thoughts will be "Worthy the Lamb!" Because our getting there will be all of God and nothing of our own doing.

The Danger

First, the Roman Catholic Church claims that ultimate authority to interpret the Bible lies with the Magisterium, the bishops and the pope. "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone. This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome" (Catholic Catechism 85).

Whilst this originally would have been understood to apply to the meaning of Scripture, it is now being extended to include the interpretation in languages. Bearing in mind that they believe "the end justifies the means", it is not unreasonable for the pope to emend the Nestle-Aland manuscript, which most modern translations are based on, to clarify its meaning and to change further interpretations.

Second, with the Anglican, Methodist and Lutheran denominations so tied up with Rome in ecumenical union, it can only be a matter of time [before] the things introduced by Francis cross over into what are the historically "Protestant" churches.

Third, it is interesting how the modern Bible versions are still adhering to the correct translation. If the liturgies in the mainstream churches change to follow the Vatican's lead it will only be a matter of time before the Nestle-Aland New Testament follows the Missal. To do so will be a further introduction of Antichristian heresy into the wider churches.

We have warned previously about the Jesuit influence on the United Bible Societies.[1] Pope Francis, like the persecuting popes of the Dark Ages and Reformation, sees himself as the "father" of all living "Christians". What they attempted to achieve with the sword, instruments of torture and faggot, he is attempting with the Word Processor and printing press. This danger is very important: as it damns souls; it is immense, as the Ecumenical Movement is so vast; and it is immediate, because it is happening now!

References:

1. See a previous series we reproduced from The Reformer, If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them: Rome's Changing Approach to Controlling the Bible, which describes the Jesuits' efforts.

 

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