Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer (sometimes known by its first two Latin words as the Pater Noster, in Greek as the {{polytonic|????? ????}}, or the English equivalent Our Father) is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity.

Related Topics:
Latin - Greek - Prayer - Christianity

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According to the New Testament, the prayer was given by Jesus of Nazareth as a response to a request from the Apostles for guidance on how to pray.

Related Topics:
New Testament - Jesus of Nazareth - Apostle

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The prayer is excerpted from the book of Matthew (6:9-13), where it appears as part of the Sermon on the Mount. A similar prayer is found in Luke 11:2-4. Luke's version does not begin "Our Father in Heaven," but rather simply with "Father" (which would be Abba in Aramaic).

Related Topics:
Matthew - Sermon on the Mount - Luke - Abba

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Most Christian theologians argue that Jesus would have never used this prayer himself, for it specifically asks for forgiveness of sins (or more literally for cancellation of debts), and in most schools of Christian thought, Christ never sinned. However since it says "forgive us our debts", not "forgive me my debts", some claim that Christ might have prayed it by way of identifying himself with the common plight of man and of asking for the forgiveness of the sins of his disciples.

Related Topics:
Theologian - Sins

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The doxology (For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.) was probably not present in the original version of the prayer, but rather was added to the Gospels as a result of its use in the liturgy of the early church. For this reason, it is not included in many modern translations.

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