Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic church who studies and believes what the Bible says. However, he is pointing out that something in the Bible has been translated badly. He has proposed to change a phrase in the "Lord's Prayer" that he doesn't agree with.
The pontiff agrees that the prayer that is also known as "Our Father" is a popular one in Catholicism. However, he says the phrase “lead us not into temptation” is not a good representation of God.
Pope Francis' view
Pope Francis has a reputation for speaking against tradition, and on Friday (Dec.
8) he pointed out on an Italian television network that the phrase in Matthew 6:13 was not translated correctly. He says, "Lead us not into temptation" is not correct because God does not lead anyone to sin. He argues that the phrase needs to be translated correctly.
The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to say is one that is learned and recited by those who have attended Sunday School and church most of their lives. Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians can recite the prayer by heart. It has been quoted by millions of people around the world for centuries.
The translation
The pope said the way it is in the Bible and understood by millions is not a good translation because it implies God actively pushes people into temptation.
Francis uses himself as an example and said he is the one who falls, and it is not God who leads him into the temptation to watch how he has fallen. The pope said it is Satan and not God who causes us to fall.
The people who heard the interview gave Pope Francis their approval to move ahead to change that particular phrase in the short prayer that appears in two gospels, Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.
Pope Francis wants people to know that he is not planning to change Jesus' words. Instead, he is proposing to make a better translation from the original Greek. The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest, warns that people should not criticize the pope for his plan to get a more appropriate translation of the phrase. He is not changing the words Jesus spoke.
He wants to change the translation.
Pope Francis wants the Roman Catholic Church to consider a translation like the one recently adopted by the Catholic Church in France that states, “Do not let us fall into temptation.”
What do you think about Pope Francis' viewpoint and his plan to change the translation? Do you think what the pope says makes a logical argument for changing something that has been in the Bible all these years in not one but in two different gospels?
