Why do some say debts instead of trespasses?
The word trespass suggests that we have violated a rule or committed an infraction. The word debt suggests we owe God something we cannot pay. “Forgive us our debts” suggests that we have done things that we should not have done, and left undone things we should have done.
The King James Version, published in 1611, translated the Greek biblical text more literally as “debts.” So other Protestant groups such as Baptists and Presbyterians have used “debts.” In verses Matthew 6:14-15, the Greek does have “trespasses.” The Greek literally says, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, ...
The "trespasses" version appears in the 1526 translation by William Tyndale (Tyndale spelling "treaspases"). In 1549 the first Book of Common Prayer in English used a version of the prayer with "trespasses". This became the "official" version used in Anglican congregations.
Debt and debtor are used in a moral sense also as indicating the obligation of a righteous life which we owe to God. To fall short in righteous living is to become a debtor. For this reason we pray, "Forgive us our debts" (Matthew 6:12).
The word is debt. The Greek text translated in Matthew 6 means debts (opheilema) and debtors (opheiletes). It is akin to the word “trespass” (paraptoma) but the word “trespass” is used other places, just as “debt” and “debtor” are used other places. Both words give the idea of sin.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Both the Catholics and the Protestants take the prayer from the Matthean version, because the Lucan version is a shorter one. The reason for this could be that Jesus taught the prayer at different times for a different audience.
As our various English translations have it, do we mean sins, trespasses, or debts? Debt covers both financial and non-financial owing, as in “mortgage debt” and “debt of gratitude.” Trespass points to property violations. Sin connotes violation of sacred commandments.
Many languages have the word debt identical to the word for sin or guilt. For example, the literal translation of the Lord's Prayer, which even many unbelievers know by heart, is Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
In Luke's gospel Jesus puts it this way: Luke 11:4 NIV84 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. So, “sin/sin against us” the NIV 1984 translates. The ESV reads a little differently: Luke 11:4 ESV 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
Why do we say forgive us our trespasses?
When we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” we are asking (among other things) to be delivered from this culture of comeuppance. Here we are not necessarily asking God to protect us from it. What we are really asking is for the grace not to engage in it ourselves.
So, spiritual debt is a bit like that nagging feeling you get when you owe someone a favor, but on a cosmic level. It's this idea that our actions, whether positive or negative, create a sort of karmic balance sheet that we'll have to settle at some point. Think of it as the universe keeping tabs on your vibes.
The word trespass is also found in Scripture; it means “a false step or sin.” In other words, it is disobedience against God's law, it is stepping into the wrong place or activity that God warns us against.
With other Christians, Presbyterians believe the death of Jesus Christ brings salvation. God and humanity are brought together; sin is forgiven; guilt is gone; and a whole new way of living is opened up for humanity.
We are saved only by God's Grace. Despite our failures in life, God already has decided to save us as evidenced through the incarnation, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. Presbyterians believe that we do not earn God's love – it is given to each of us freely. We live in gratitude for what God will do.
“I think most Presbyterians would agree with me and say we believe, like most things in this world, alcohol is from the creator and like all things, if used, it should be used in moderation,” said Dan Fultz, senior pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Victoria, emphasizing his parishioners would not support or ...
Essentially it means sacred, holy, separate. The line in the Lord's Prayer that reads “hallowed be thy name” means that God's name (and therefore, God himself) is to be the most uniquely valued one in all the world.
Lead us not into mistranslation. Pope Francis officially approved a change to the most famous prayer in Christianity. It's the prayer Jesus taught followers to pray and one of the few things that unites 2.2 billion Christians across the globe.
Origin. The Hail Mary is rooted in Scripture — the initial lines are taken directly from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. We read that God sends the Angel Gabriel to proclaim to the Virgin Mary that she is to bear the Son of God. Upon coming to her, the Angel greets Mary, saying, “Hail, favored one!
As a result, Catholics living in the eastern half of the Roman Empire usually added the doxology while those in the western half believed the “Our Father” as said during today's Mass was sufficient. When scholars decided on the final written version, they chose to omit it.
What is the difference between trespassers and debtors in the Lord's prayer?
The words mean roughly the same thing. But they don't mean exactly the same thing. The word trespass suggests that we have violated a rule or committed an infraction. The word debt suggests we owe God something we cannot pay.
When we pray the Lord's Prayer we usually end with the words “but deliver us from evil.” Many other Christians add another line: “For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.” During Mass, after reciting the Lord's prayer , the priest offers another prayer - the embolism – based on the petition for ...
Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."
Each of these can be used to overcome the corresponding sins of (1) vainglory, or pride, (2) greed, or covetousness, (3) lust, or inordinate or illicit sexual desire, (4) envy, (5) gluttony, which is usually understood to include drunkenness, (6) wrath, or anger, and (7) sloth.
It is only English-speaking Catholics who use the word “trespass.” According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the first definition of “trespass” is “a violation of moral or social ethics: transgression: esp: sin.” The meaning used in the English Catholic prayer, therefore, remains true to Matthew's figurative ...
