Is the Lord's Prayer a Christian Prayer?
In Mullin v. Sussex County, Delaware, a U.S. District Court must answer whether the Lord's Prayer is sectarian. Four residents sued the county council for opening meetings with the prayer. The county says it's not Christian "because no Christian tradition existed" when Jesus prayed it. The judge called the case difficult "because there is no reference to Jesus or Allah." Observers weigh in on whether the Lord's Prayer is a Christian prayer.
"The Lord's Prayer is 'the' Christian prayer. It comes up more than any other text in Christian liturgies since the first century. And its context in Matthew and Luke gives explicitly Christian meanings to terms such as Father and kingdom."
Telford Work, author, Ain't Too Proud to Beg
"It is distinctly Christian. In the New Testament, it is Jesus who gives us the prayer. Throughout the Christian church—whether Catholics, Protestants, or Eastern Orthodox—people pray that prayer. You will not find it in a Jewish synagogue."
Simon Kistemaker, New Testament professor, Reformed Theological Seminary
"It is a Christian prayer. Jesus was certainly influenced by certain Jewish models of prayer, but he gave it to his disciples specifically. So it's a direct inheritance for us as Christians."
Arthur Boers, author, Lord, Teach Us to Pray
"The Lord's Prayer is both Jewish and Christian. Jesus, a Jew, was teaching his Jewish followers to pray. But the fact that it is a part of both traditions fails to make it sufficiently nonsectarian to pass constitutional muster."
J. Brent Walker, executive director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
"You could consider it a prayer for multiple religions, because Jesus is considered to be a rabbi or a great teacher by many of the world's religions. It was not originally delivered as a Christian prayer; it was simply a teacher teaching his disciples a good way to pray."
Clayton Schmit, professor, Fuller Theological Seminary
"The prayer in and of itself does not explicitly espouse the precepts of Christianity. It recognizes God, but does not proselytize a particular religion. And case law does not support a mandatory total prohibition of prayer at public gatherings."
Brad Dacus, president, Pacific Justice Institute
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Claire Guest
Jesus was and is the Christ, the Messiah. The early believers were first called Christians at Antioch, one of the earliest established churches we see in the NT. Christ Jesus established the new covenant by which men and women become new creatures in Him, whereby old things pass away and all things become new. There is definitely a clear connection between the Father who sent His only begotten Son that we might be saved from sin and thus inherit eternal life -- to those whose standard of truth is the Bible, God's Holy Word, who have received its truth by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, whom Jesus said is the Spirit of truth.
LEON KENNEDY
You are right Glen, and I pose another question... what does christian mean and who created it? what is Christianity and whom created it? We have been taught for hundreds of years that Christianity is from the bible, or The Scriptures. That's not true my people, you can't find one scripture that states the Messiah was a Christian, or He was the founder of Christianity. The prophecies of the coming messiah, mention nothing about him starting a new religion. He came to set his people Israel back on the right track. The title, "Christian" is mention in the bible only three times, not once does he Most High Father use the phrase "MY PEOPLE CHRISTIANS OR CHRISTIANS ARE MY PEOPLE". There is no connection between The Father, Christian Doctrine, Lifestyle or Worship throughout the entire Scriptures or bible. Please don't twist the writings of Peter or Paul to make an argument for this religion, it doesn't hold up.
Claire Guest
Since the Christ gave this model prayer to His disciples (including us), how can it be called anything BUT a Christ-ian prayer? But of course the point here is whether our government leaders will acknowledge God as established by precedent from the beginning until just a few years ago, or if they will continue to abandon Godly values and thus seal our nation's doom. "Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord."