Monday, August 4, 2025

It is the 4th of August 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A very happy Monday to you all post Summerslam weekend, I hope you all got what you asked for.

An email today from listener Leslie in Brandon. Leslie could be a man’s name or a woman’s name… and while Brandon is also a name, this time it is a city- and not just any city- it is the Wheat City- home to the junior hockey Wheat Kings and is there in beautiful Manitoba, Canada (shoutout, as always to the Canadians- my maternal family line settled on Prince Edward Island from Scotland on their way to British Colomba).  Leslie in Brandon asked a question because they visited a church, and when it came time for the Lord’s prayer, Leslie said it all got jumbled up, and they knew just where to go…

I’m considering opening a business like Lucy from Peanuts- I set up a little stand outside of churches, it reads “the doctor is in,” and for a nickel, I explain “why they did it like that” after the service.

I recently had a friend at church ask a similar question, but Leslie’s question let’s me go a bit deeper and Leslie added, “we were also wondering which language God hears the Lord’s prayer in the most any given Sunday”… the answer to that one is Spanish- given the dominance of the Catholic church in Latin America and that almost 70% of Christians today live south of the equator.

And, if the Catholics are saying the Lord’s Prayer the most, that means that the version used is going to end after the 7th petition “deliver us from evil,” while other versions are going to add “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” Although there is a discrepancy between “glory forever” and “glory forever and ever”. 

This last part- the “doxology” does come with a little bit of controversy. You might know that there are 2 Lord’s Prayers in Scripture- the longer version in Matthew 6 and the shorter version in Luke 11. But what if I told you there was a third?

There is a third version in the Didache (looks like “Did” “Ache”), it is a super important 2nd-century “manual” for worship and instruction. And in the Didache, we get the doxology, which makes sense if it is instructing the church in prayer to end the Lord’s prayer with a bit of praise. It seems that the doxology made its way into one of the textual traditions- the one put together by Erasmus that would become the basis for the King James. So, it makes sense that the Catholic version wouldn’t use the doxology- it’s using Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, which does not have the doxology.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has no doxology (but it has a footnote saying that it’s a liturgical addition used by some). The Westminster and Heidelberg Catechisms (generally Reformed) do, and as you might expect with the Lutherans, they are somewhere in between.

The 2005 edition of Luther’s Catechism from Concordia Publishing DOES have it, but you might have heard that Luther did not include the bit in his 1529 Catechism; others added it later.

And then, of course, the great divide between “trespasses” and “debts”… I had a friend at church ask me, “Why don’t we just say ‘sin’”? Well… uh…. It gets even trickier when you read the shorter Luke version of the prayer that does, in fact, just use “sin” (Hamartia- easy word to translate as sin). In Matthew, the word is “debt” (opheilema), and you’re going to get that translation in King James, NIV, ESV, NRSV, etc.

The “trespass” language comes from William Tyndale and his 1526 English translation, and that language made its way into the Book of Common Prayer. Today, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran church are most likely to use the “trespass” language with the Anglicans and Episcopalians, although they have “contemporary” options which use the word “sin”. The Westminster and Heidelberg catechisms and the broadly “Reformed” use the Matthew language of “Debt”.  

Here’s the good news- in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is criticizing those who “babble like pagans” and think that certain strings of words are what get God’s attention. There is a tension in not saying “rote prayers” or just memorizing the words- and then Jesus giving us the words… but there is just enough variety throughout time and space that we don’t have to stress over it- I always listen for a little cacophony during the “debts” and “forever and ever” parts and I love it.

Thanks, Leslie in Brandon, for the question. I’m prepping shows for when I’m gone- and I’d love to give you all an assignment if you’d like to take it. Maybe it’s your own church service- maybe it’s visiting a church- I want you to look around, note the things happening in worship, and see if any “why do we do that”? Questions pop up certain words, colors, pictures, hand movements… ways of talking or praying or singing… I’d love to put together a big mailbag of “why do we do it that way?” Questions.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary from yesterday (because it’s one of my favorite verses).

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of August 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who has Fine pewter portraits of general apathy and major boredom singing... Whatever and ever Amen. He is  Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who was fully swerved by Seth Rollins- well done- I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.