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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, ETC.
Note: Recently a well known Catholic lady sent
us two questions regarding what is generally known
as the Doxology, or the closing of the Lord’s prayer
as generally said in Protestant Churches. Her letter
contained another in which a scholarly gentleman
undertook to show that the Catholics had erred in
omitting the Doxology. Investigation shows that the
great weight of authority is against any such con
tention. As this is a matter that frequently arises
the correspondence is reproduced in full below, names
only being omitted.
The Lady’s Questions.
August 24, 1920.
Catholic Laymen’s Association:
May I intrude on your valuable time to ask a little
information about the ending of the Lord’s Prayer?
In a recent discussion with a Presbyterian, I stated
that the ending “Thine Is the Kingdom, etc.,” had
been added by the Protestant Church, and that my
impression was that the Catholic Church considered
it an over-emphasis of the First Person of the Blessed
Trinity.
My Presbyterian friend referred the question, as
you will see, to a scholar, whose answer I enclose.
The two questions I would be glad to have you
answer are:
Why do we give the greater authority to the Latin
and the Vulgate versions in the compilation of the
Douay Bible? and
Does the Church consider the ending of the prayer,
as the Protestants say it, a questioning of the equal
greatness of the Three Persons of the Trinity, or does
the Church merely question the authenticity of the
final line?
While the matter is relatively unimportant, I do
not like to leave it unsettled, since my friend was
sufficiently interested to carry our little conversation
to a student of the Bible whose authority she looks
up to.
With appreciation of your attention to this little
matter,
Very truly yours,
(Signed)
What the Scholar Wrote.
August 6, 1920.
Dear Madam:
Yours of recent date came duly to hand. Your
Catholic friend is both right and wrong, as they
usually are. The Doxology of the Lord’s Prayer is
recorded only in the King James Version, in Matt. 6.
The American revision omits it from the text, placing
it as a foot-note, with this comment: “Many au
thorities, some ancient, but with variations, add, “For
Thine Is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory,
Forever, Amen.”
It is not found in some of the oldest manuscripts;
it is neither in the Old Latin nor Vulgate versions,
which date back to the second and fourth centuries,
respectively; but it is found in all the Syriac versions
(one of them dating as early as the Old Latin), and
also in the Thebaic, or Egyptian, version, which dates
back to the second century also. It is found in all
the versions written for the Jews, and in the large
majority of all the manuscripts. The Douay Bible,
which the Catholics follow, is a translation from the
Old Latin and the Vulgate; therefore the Doxology is
not found in that version.
Personally, I see no reason why it should not have
been authentic, for many of the expressions of Jesus
came from the Old Testament, which was His Bible;
and you will find almost exactly these words, First
Chronicles, 29:11, which is a record of David’s last
words.
There is nothing in it that does away with the
Trinity; in fact, it rather emphasizes it, because of
the three-in-one expression of praise, which its words
declare.
The Douay Bible and our King James version are
so nearly alike that if your Catholic friend rejects
one, she will have to reject the other also. It would
probably be the part of wisdom for all Catholics to
study their Bibles instead of the prayer-book, and not
leave so much to the interpretation of their priests.
The Reply of the Association.
Replying to your letter of August 24th in regard
to the addition to the Lord’s Prayer, “Thine Is the
Kingdom Etc.”
Your impression that the Church regards this
phrase as an over emphasis of the First Person of the
Blessed Trinity is, perhaps, due to a confusion arising
from the addition made by the Council of Nicae to
the ancient form of the Lesser Doxology, “Glory Be
to the Father, Etc."
Prior to the Arian heresy, which was an attack
on the Trinity, this Doxology read: “Glory Be to the
Father, to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.” The
Council of Nicae added the words, “as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be,” in order to
confound the Arian heretics who held that the Son
was not “from the beginning” equal to the Father,
not consubstantial with Him.
The reason the Church does not sanction the use
of "Thine Is the Kingdom, Etc.” at the end of the
Lord’s Player is merely because there is no con
vincing evidence that our Lord used these words when
teaching this prayer to His Apostles. It is not found
in the most ancient Greek MS of the New Testa
ment, particularly the Sinaitic MS, or the Vatican
MS, regarded by all Greek critics, whether Catholic
or non-Catholic, as the most reliable MSS in the'world.
In consequence, this ending of the Lord’s Prayer
is usually omitted in modern editions of the Greek
New Testament by Protestant scholars, among whom
may be mentioned Tischendorf, Lachman, Tregelles,
(Continued on Page Twelve)