Christians in France Recite New Version of Lord's Prayer Amid Debate Over God and Temptation
The French Catholic church has adopted a new version of the Lord's Prayer to clear a misunderstanding among some churchgoers, that God has a direct hand in leading them to commit sins.
The Gallic version of the Lord's Prayer concerning the sixth request to God reads, "Lead us not into temptation," or "Ne nous soumets pas a la tentation" (Do not submit us to temptation) in French. But starting Sunday, the first day of Advent, the worshippers in France will instead pray, "Ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation," which translates as "Do not let us enter into temptation," The Times reports.
The French bishops agreed to have a new version of Notre Père, or the Lord's Prayer, in March. It has also been approved by some French-language Protestant churches.
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The modern French version of Notre Père was produced in 1966 after the reformist Vatican II council.
It wasn't erroneous, but ambiguous, says Monsignor Guy de Kerimel, bishop of Grenoble and in charge of liturgy. "In itself the translation wasn't wrong, but the interpretation was ambiguous," he is quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
However, the national council of evangelicals of France, CNEF, responded to the new version of the Lord's Prayer by saying while it does clarify that God is not responsible for temptation, "it waters down God's sovereignty."
In the New International Version of the Bible, the Lord's Prayer, as found in Matthew 6:9-13, reads:
"This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'"
"There's going to be some mumbling for a while" as worshippers adjust to the new words, Kerimel said.
