The Lord´s Prayer on the wall of Helgerud church in Norway 2008. It is the first time this translation of the 6th Prayer was shown public;
"Led oss ut av fristelse": "Lead us out of temptation".

 

 

"How great, dearest brethren, are the mysteries of the Lord’s Prayer, how many, how magnificent, gathered together in a few words, yet abundant in spiritual power. There is nothing whatever with regard to our pleading and our prayer omitted, nothing not contained in this summary of heavenly doctrine." - These are Bishop Cyprians ( 200-258) words to The Lord´s Prayer.

The words on this page can bring something new into this text; solving a problem that seems to have been there from the first written version in Greek about 1950 years ago (and maybe longer).

The light text you see in the picture was set up with a projector against the tower wall of Helgerud church in connection with a concert. At the bottom of the road past the church, the text is partly hidden by trees, but appears more and more clear and large (it was about 4m wide) when walking the walkway up towards the church. When you came in, the text could change greatly in effect. There is a symbolism and experience in this, which reflects the effect of the words of the gospel otherwise; when you get close to the words, they become much stronger , unlike the words used separately in other contexts.

Chistians have gained strength and wisdom and more Inside the words of The Lord´s Prayer for almost 2000 years. The Prayer is a central part of our services. It has represented an important postion of the western worlds cultural base, known to most people - believers or less believers. With its universal, rich content it can be used with a diversity of religious perceptions.

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The Prayer consists of beautiful, deep words, to a lifelong opportunity for ever new experiences of the words. It begins with an introductory address to God, followed by a 7-part prayer part (6-part is also used with the 6th and 7th prayer as a prayer), and a praise part at the end which is added later, presumably within first century.

- But then: The very strange words in The Lord´s Prayer; The 6th Prayer!
In the earliest written form preserved, The Lords´ Prayer was written in Greek in the Gospel of Matthew; 6; 9-13 , and in a slightly different, shorter version of the Gospel of Luke; 11; 2-4. The words seem to have lost their meaning, and may have created confusing problems for the Christians right into our time!

The original text can be word-to-word translated : "And not lead us into temptation (trial)". A word for temptation is used in the text (in Latin letters); "peirasmos". It may have several meanings in Greek, but in any case it is an incomprehensible theology that God is asked "not to do"; it is hard to imagine, when God always doesthe good things. The most common interpretation of the word is "temptation", and it should correspond to how the word is used elsewhere in the texts. Therefore; it becomes extra weak theology to pray : "do not (bring in) us into temptation ": Do not do any evil to us! - Only The "Tempter" in the Bible otherwise, and people against themselves, and against each other, can be linked to this.

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A response to the incomprehensible theology that emerged with the Greek version of The 6th Prayer may have been penned by someone who seems to have an advanced insight into the subject; James (brother to Jesus?):
"James 1; 13-14: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God', for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."

James' insight is also evident in his stage description of temptation, and when he sets a perfect goal for man: James 3; 2:" And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body."

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It can be shown that all the prayer parts were basically composed of parts from Jewish prayers at that time, and that 6. The prayer may seem to have a starting point in an evening prayer from the "Babylonian Talmud". Such prayers could be shaped in such a way that one "reinforced the meaning" of first denying or thanking for something that God does not do anyway, and then asking for what God can do.

The Lord´´ Prayer was reserved for the baptized in the early days of Christianity, and was kept ouside of discussions otherwise, that could make the strange theology of the 6th Prayer more visible.

Furthermore, it may have worked very much against its purpose that theologians for a long time have undertaken to write their "explanations" for the 6th Prayer. The first I have found is Tertullian (ca. 160-220) in "On, the Prayer" chapter 8.: "Do not lead us into temptation, that is, do not let us be led by the tempter. " It seems that some of the first quasi-explanations of The 6.th Prayer was written here, and may be became a starting point for the quasi-explanations that were unfortunately written all the way into our time!

Tertullian has a number of other things included in his doubtful list of writings; his anti-women and anti-Jewish writings and the Latin language of power he introduced into theology.

Martin Luther (1483-1546), in The Large and Small Catechisms, and the previous pope; Joseph Ratzinger, in his book "Jesus of Nazareth" did their contribution to "explain". The theologians often wrote wordy "explanations", which had no particular connection with the words as they appear in the text. This distance in the "explanation" of 6th Prayer and what is actually written there, was apparently not seen as a particular problem? People may have felt simple and uneducated in this when this was "explained" by the "experts", and yet they did not have the opportunity to understand, and there is also much that is not easy to understand in this complex topic. Then the believers prayed the 6th Prayer in the best sense - while a veil has been lying for two thousand years over this part of a luminous text.

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The 6th prayer has a difficulty in it that can unfold in a greater number of historical, theological and otherwise diverse possibilities of wondering; The Mystery of the 6th Prayer:

- What were the original words Jesus teached his diciples?
- Why did it become such a theological oddity in the particularly important topic, in the Greek written version at the time?
- Why has this become so very long-lasting; "theological Gordian knot"?

One explanation could have been that the Greek words at that time; in Koine Greek (between classical and modern Greek), had a meaning in this that is not known today, and which made this far less difficult to understand then. According to a leading professional in Koine Greek in Norway; Bjørn Helge Sandvei, with whom I spoke about this, it is not probable that there was another (better) meaning in the words at that time, which is not preserved in understanding later.

There was a strange incomprehensibility in the words right there - right there, in the particularly important thing; about impulses to man's choice of thought, of will and action - with possible fatal consequences!

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"Temptation" can be defined as(Wikipedia "temptation"): "External and internal impulses for short-term pleasure and enjoyment that conflict with long-term goals of higher ethical and moral value." The "short-term pleasure and joy" can also be a response to aspects of us that we usually do not have much awareness of. By following these impulses, it can harm us in several ways. It helps to drive us to over-consumption of the earth's resources and is the source of a myriad of other visible and less visible problems in our lives. With the great challenges of our time, especially in taking care of creation, we need a more tempting thinking ability!

In the 6th Prayer we come to the great meeting in theology, philosophy and psychology, and include theological / existential questions about God's omnipotence in the context of "man's free will"; "the problem of evil" - and further in psychology's insight into the human mind, which is inexplicably largely controlled by impulses.

This is about the opposing forces in man; described, and experienced as "light and darkness".

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It may seem enlightening to divide the course of a temptation into 5 stages:

The first stage is where we are exposed to external or internal impulses, which can be in the form of sensory impressions and thoughts that appear, more or less predictable.

Then it will possibly get a reaction in us;
2nd stage where one feels a "pleasant allure" in these impulses.

The 3rd stage is a more or less conscious choice situation, which has to do with how we choose to relate to this "pleasant allure". It can also be like a "slackness of mind" to choose a "path of least resistance".

Man's freedom of choice is something many find complicated in its consequences, in relation to an almighty God. I think it can be more deeply understood as that man has received a greatness from God; in freedom and responsibility for their choices.

So what is difficult to relate to: "Something" can get a grip on the human mind here - and make unimaginably bad impact of our bad choices. In an ideological and religious framework, this can be difficult to see and see through, and in a group context, there can also be your own confusion in this. It is important that a group context can also have a positive effect in this.

Fantasies and dreams are a beauty for life! - But with a too strong drive for pleasure, this can bind the mind in ways that limit us in this. A word for the opposite of a temptation might seem to make one more aware of this; the word for "a positive impulse", where this word has an opposite meaning of "temptation", which is written about above here.

This is also about the importance of having a connection with, the inner space of thought - which all the noisy impulses of the world will make difficult for us! This is referred to as "your room" ( Matthew 6; 6 )

In the mind, reason and conscience are man's "inner helpers" in opposition to the impulse of temptation. Old, universally valid texts can be of invaluable help; The 10 commandments, and what is a summary of The Golden Rule . The work of the true sprirituality in us to the many sides of love can at this stage be what gives thought to a will not to go further into temptation.

In the 4th stage , the choice is made (more or less quickly through the 3rd stage) and one begins a creative planning, in a constant "pleasant allure" of the deeds of temptation. When one is in what can be called a 4th stage, reason and conscience may be blurred, and the willpower to the good may have been reduced -

Stage 5 - Death

In a sequence of thought - will - action, one has here come to the action as a result of the temptation in the form of deeds and a possible, new, long-lasting mindset, which may be based on a "moving of boundary stones" ( Proverbs 22:28 ). Moral and ethical boundaries from an older and deeper understanding are exposed. It is especially dangerous to unknowingly move these so that they are moved permanently; to a new "normal state". It is not so easy then to choose to go back through the 3rd stage of the temptation, which one might in a normal, human way, not spend much time on ...

We need words that illuminate a way out of the long-term effect of temptation at this stage. With good words in prayer, we have a better help to find this way.

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Here I have described a general review of the course of a temptation. I could divide temptations into "degrees of seriousness", but it is up to the individual to think something about this. There is a difference between buying a chocolate too much (but which it can still be important enough to resist the temptation of), than the much more serious temptations. What one e.g. does against children, according to Jesus is something very particularly serious.

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Modern Bible translators use an idiomatic (meaningful) translation when needed in parts of the texts when they see a need for even greater freedom in the translation, e.g. by linguistic twists that are no longer in use in the rest of society. This is in contrast to a so-called concordant translation, which is a term for a word-for-word translation; closer to the text. A cocordant translation of 6. The prayer has proven to be meaningless, and the words in 6. The prayer also seems to have a need for a translation beyond an idiomatic type, for this to have meaning. In 6. Prayer there seems to be a "theological state of emergency": Translators do not have any "tools" in their "toolbox" to solve this with common methods of translation.

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I believe that the development in thinking about the many complex aspects of temptation was disturbed by the meaningless version in Greek of 6th prayer, maybe written around 1950 years ago. The believers have not been able to go deeper into the words, as one can with the rest of the words in Our Father. Some later had too much influence on Christianity thinking with quasi-explanations, and this may have changed the "thinking climate" further for other topics as well, and not least: Could it have made the temptation less visible to add and change the texts of the copywriters at the time? :

Paul's letter may appear to have received a misogynistic addition in 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35 where the logic is broken by women being allowed and not allowed to speak in the congregation, in the same letter. The fact that the supplement is placed in different places in the oldest found copies may also indicate something that is not from Paul's hand.

Several letters may have been added to him which also became problematic for women - and men!
The female apostle Junia was given the male name Junias (which no one had at the time). According to Paul in Romans 16; 7, Junia was named "among the foremost of the apostles", along with her husband Andronikos, who was also an apostle. In the fourth century, the Greek bishop (and much more) John Khrysostomos wrote about Junia, that she was a female apostle, but in the late 13th century, some began to doubt that Junia was indeed a woman and an apostle. In 1298 it was a pope; Boniface VIIII who replaced Junia with a male name. This rewriting of a male name can e.g. seen in Martin Luther's translation of the Bible in 1522. More about this issue in the Junia project website

The Gospel of Mark may have had a (problematic) addition at the end from 16: 9 . There are two varieties of additions.

The later Comma Johanneum is a clear example of a paraphrase in a theological controversy. A enlightening film about this.

"No one knows the relationship between the Father and the Son except the Father and the Son." wrote Ireneus of Lyon (125-203). It would have been a nice principle to let it all rest!

The very important thing - that which could not be framed by the description of the words: Man's great, transforming possibility in the Doctrine of Jesus; "born again" in John 3;3 , which could be beautifully symbolized by a parallel in the developmental stages of the butterfly - to a whole new beauty with an even new freedom of movement: From a two-dimensional ground plane as a caterpillar, to a new and larger view in a 3-dimensional space-space like a butterfly, via a transformation into a cocoon which is described by scientists as "a death-like process". It may seem that this experiential understanding and knowledge may have been pushed out of the church during the years of power struggles over the nature of Jesus and the position of women.

The great human-transforming mystery - the essential to find back and forth to -

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A new and versatile version of the 6th Prayer, visible in the picture above

A solution for 6th.prayer uses important "Lead us" along with the main theme; "temptation":

Lead us out of temptation

Paul wrote of being "led out of temptation" in 1 Corinthians 10; 13 : "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

"Lead us out of temptation" takes care of the freedom man has to enter into temptation. Therefore, it is in the 4th stage of temptation; after the choices have been made (or "skipped" ...); where one has given in to the temptation, often with too little willpower, that "Lead us out of" is also particularly correct.

"Do not lead us into temptation" can be equated with "Lead us out of temptation" by putting "not into" = "out of", and it gives a (smart ...) translation that gives the seemingly meaningless text meaning understood in this way. If one imagines a comma after "Lead us" (the basic text has no punctuation anyway), like this; "Lead us, not into temptation" this may be easier to see. "not into" = "out of" can of course not be used in general in other cases, but here, where God never leads into temptation, I think such a "=" can be used.

Man can be said to have been exposed to unconscious, long-lasting temptations, which God can make visible; lead us out of. It can be attitudes and thought patterns that have their origin in more or less conscious choice situations we have been in. It can e.g. be that we have once made up our minds about a human being who limits it to us; which makes it smaller. Following a temptation to put people in stalls seems to be a major problem in our time.

Temptations can occur in a constant repetition that one can go into time after time, and correspondingly be dissatisfied with in retrospect. "Lead us out of temptation" can help us get out of such a recurring weakness in the mind.

Prolonged temptations can occur in succession for generations as an inherited culture, and then "lead us out of temptation" are the right words. "Lead us out of temptation" is therefore a prayer to be led collectively out of a state of being in temptation; e.g. how our society has influenced us to a restrictive, consumer-oriented attitude to life.

"Lead us out of temptation" also has the opportunity to give you strength when you notice that you need it right there and then, in a situation where a temptation is particularly intrusive and difficult to resist.

Children (and adults) spend far too much time on what is happening on large and small screens. These are addictive temptations, which are particularly dangerous, among other things. in passivating effect. Children depend on us to be led out of such temptations! In "Lead Us Out of Temptation" we acknowledge that God's help is of immense value to us, to help children with such complicated temptations, and are exactly the words we need now. We can become more receptive to guidance from God when we pray - and we adults can lead the children out of what may be a quiet, very bad situation for the children now. Where did the sound from the playing children go? Most beautiful sounds on earth! We need to see this dangerous situation for the children, with the good ideas and willingness to give the children alternative opportunities, where they can use their great social, creative and exploratory abilities that can lead them out of the great temptations of our time.

"Lead us out of temptation" may be leading to a greater conciesness of temptation; on how our mind works, and how we choose to make it work - This is about the old words from Egypt " Know thyself" and on the temple wall in Greece / Delphi. This is what Jesus was talking about by: " ( Matthew 7;5 ) " first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. "

God leads us in His wonderful ways - in our possible receptivity.


The Way in this from Jesus in Matthew 7; 7 :

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.


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Man's freedom to choose can be said to be a troublesome thought problem: Why are we created this way when it only seems to cause us problems? The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) formulated an answer in one of his novels - That freedom of choice is necessary for the choosing of love.

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With "Lead us out of temptation" there was a better connection with the 7th Prayer by merging these as follows:


Lead us out of temptation to freedom from evil!

in German:

Führe uns aus Versuchung zur Freihet von dem Bösen!


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Two words can simply be said to be essential to the good qualities of man; "kind" and "wise". The combination of them is to be kind in a wise way, and wise in a kind way. The wise and the kind can strengthen one another, and be lifted up on a higher plane - to Wisdom. Wisdom is for the urge for good united in "heart and mind." Wisdom has the good thoughts for God in it, and grows in an experiential recognition of God's qualities - as life-giving for man.

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He wrote about a Way; Lao Tzu (500-600 BC): "Tao Te Ching", which can be seen in connection with the later Way:

He who overcomes others has force; he who overcomes himself is strong.

 

For the opposite of temptation; Hanna Winsnes (1789-1872) said it like this:

Always follow your ideas when it comes to pleasing others!

 

This combined in the wisdom of an indigenous people:

The story of "the two wolves in man".

- With a learning-attitude, each day has its own golden chances to be receptive to God's guidance to lead us out of temptation - by valuing our time - to use the good will of what Jesus said about the use of our talents. talents (Matthew 25; 14). God leads us in a way that does not make us passive; in a way that is for growth in us, and can be in a way that we can often see more clearly in retrospect. I have made a living rule to use for life's many challenges:

The Way becomes visible if we walk it.

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The Mystery of the 6th Prayer seems to remain a mystery in its origin and hov the words remained so meaningless for so many years! These words and theologians "explanations", may have had a destructive impact on the "thinking climate" in Christianity for nearly 2000 years! Meaning is restored by: " Lead us out of temptation to Freedom From Evil!" - words also bearing a mystery within -

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Thanks to the then fellow student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Magne Nygård and Bethel Pentecostal Church in Trondheim, where I began my journey with The prayer!

Thanks to Bishop Jacob Jervell (1925-2014) who helped me to work methodically better on this!

Thanks too; physician and founder of HumanDHS Evelin G. Lindner - Sr. Anne-Lise Strøm at the monastery of Lunden - author and pastor Helge Hognestad - researcher and philosopher Henrik Syse - author and narrator Helga Samset - and Ellen Louise who has been by my side for many years - and several not mentioned but not forgotten!

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Some sources of knowledge

A complete work on the whole Prayer (in Norwegian)

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Updated 19.2.2022

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