Lord's Prayer

Lord's Prayer
James Tissot · Public domain · source
Name	Lord's Prayer
Other names	Our Father; Pater Noster
Language	Koine Greek; Latin; Aramaic (reconstructed)
Scripture	Gospel of Matthew; Gospel of Luke
Type	Prayer; Christian liturgical text
Attributed to	Jesus

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus and recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. It functions as a model prayer within Christianity, shaping devotion, liturgy, and theology across diverse traditions such as Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and Protestantism. The text's transmission involves important witnesses including the Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, and patristic authors like Augustine of Hippo and Origen.

Text and translations

The prayer appears in two principal texts: the longer form in Gospel of Matthew (chapter 6) and a shorter form in Gospel of Luke (chapter 11). Major ancient manuscripts preserving these forms include Papyrus 75, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Bezae, and Chester Beatty Papyri. Historic translations that influenced Western liturgy include the Latin Vulgate translation by Jerome, the English translations of the King James Version and the Book of Common Prayer, and modern renderings in ecumenical texts such as the New Revised Standard Version and the New International Version. Liturgical languages preserving traditional texts include Latin, Koine Greek, Church Slavonic, Coptic, and Syriac.

Origins and scriptural sources

Scholars situate the prayer in the Synoptic tradition, analyzing its Matthean and Lukan forms within the framework of the Synoptic problem and the hypothetical Q source. Patristic citations by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian attest to early Christian usage. Textual-critical work on witnesses such as Papyrus Bodmer, Codex Alexandrinus, and versions like the Peshitta informs reconstructions of a possible original Aramaic or Greek wording, debated by scholars including F. C. Burkitt, H. J. Holtzmann, and E. P. Sanders. Comparative study considers parallels in Second Temple literature and rabbinic prayer forms in Talmudic sources and Dead Sea Scrolls texts.

Theological interpretations

The prayer's clauses ("Our Father", "hallowed be thy name", "daily bread", "forgive us", "deliver us from evil") have generated theological reflection by figures such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Karl Barth. Debates center on soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology as reflected in petitions about the Kingdom of God, divine providence, and forgiveness of sins. Liturgical theologians like Louis Bouyer and systematicians such as Jürgen Moltmann examine how the petition for "daily bread" relates to Eucharist theology and social ethics addressed by Gustavo Gutiérrez and Dorothy Day.

Liturgical and devotional use

The prayer occupies a central role in liturgical rites: it appears in the Eucharist of the Roman Rite, in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and in the Daily Office of the Anglican Communion. Monastic rules such as those of Benedict of Nursia incorporated the prayer into canonical hours. Reform liturgies by Thomas Cranmer and eucharistic revisions by Vatican II continued its prominent placement. Devotional use ranges from private pietistic traditions promoted by John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards to contemporary charismatic practice exemplified by Pentecostalism leaders.

Variations across Christian traditions

Textual and doxological variants appear among traditions: the inclusion of the doxology "For thine is the kingdom..." in King James Version and Orthodox liturgies contrasts with many modern critical editions and some liturgical traditions that omit it, reflecting the textual evidence from Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. Differences include second-person plural pronouns in Greek manuscripts, eucharistic emphases in Eastern Orthodox Church liturgy, baptismal catecheses in the Coptic Orthodox Church, and liturgical formulations employed by Lutheranism, Methodism, Presbyterians, and Anabaptist groups. National liturgies—such as those in the Church of England, Russian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America, and Lutheran Church of Sweden—display vernacular and ceremonial diversity.

Historical development and textual criticism

Textual criticism traces manuscript variation through witnesses like Papyrus 45, Codex Washingtonianus, and the Vulgate tradition, with scholarly editions by Eberhard Nestle, Kurt Aland, and the United Bible Societies reflecting critical decisions. Patristic commentary, medieval glosses, and liturgical rubrics influenced transmission via Stephen Langton's lectionary reforms and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. Modern scholarship by Bruce Metzger, Bart D. Ehrman, and James D. G. Dunn investigates redactional layers, oral tradition, and the interplay of Hellenistic and Jewish religious idioms. Ongoing discoveries in papyrology and codicology inform debates over the prayer's original wording and its role in early Christian identity formation.

Category:Christian prayers