News
Pope Francis Approves Change To The Lord’s Prayer
Pope Francis has officially approved a change to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 that replaces “lead us not into temptation” with “do not let us fall into temptation.”
The U.S. Catholic reports that the Vatican enacted the change on May 22 following 16 years of research by experts who found a mistake in the current translation “from a theological, pastoral, and stylistic viewpoint.”
Pope Francis first signaled support for amending the “lead us not into temptation” part of the Lord’s Prayer in 2017, arguing that it portrays God in a false light.

“A father does not lead into temptation, a father helps you to get up immediately,” the pope said at the time. “It is not a good translation because it speaks of a God who induces temptation.”
“The one who leads you into temptation is Satan,” he added. “That’s Satan’s role.”
Pope Francis pointed out that other translations had already been changed to modernize the language. “The French have modified the prayer to ‘do not let me fall into temptation,’ because it is me who falls, not the Lord who tempts me to then see how I fall,” he said.
The Lord’s Prayer originates in Matthew 6:9-13. The key verse in question is 13, which, in the NIV translation, reads: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It is a translation from the Latin Vulgate, which was translated from ancient Greek by Saint Jerome in the late fourth century.
Initially, the proposed change to the Lord’s Prayer received mixed reactions from the wider faith community, with most saying they trusted the pope and the process, the Houston Chronicle reported.
But others expressed concern over the change.
David W. Pao, chair of the New Testament Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, told The Christian Post that the change reflects the idea that “the Aramaic original” of the temptation petition “might have carried a permissive sense.”
“This permissive sense is consistent with a similar petition in the Jewish prayer a first century Jew might be familiar with (cf. b. Ber. 60b),” explained Pao.
“Moreover, the petition that follows in the Lord’s Prayer (‘deliver us from the evil one,’ Matthew 6:13b) clearly points to the devil as the one who leads people to sin.”
Pao also told CP that the proposed new language “does not represent the best reading of the Greek text nor does it exhaust the meaning of this petition.”
“First, this ‘permissive’ reading is not explicitly expressed in the Greek of Matthew 6:13a, and ‘lead us not into temptation’ remains the best and most natural rendering of this petition,” continued Pao.
“Second, if ‘temptation’ is understood as ‘temptation that leads to sin” (see Galatians 6:1), then it is important to emphasize that God does not lead people into such ‘temptation’ (see James 1:13-14). Nevertheless, the underlying Greek word behind ‘temptation’ can also refer more generally to ‘testing,’ and the Bible does describe God bringing His people into times of ‘testing’ (e.g., Deuteronomy 8:2, 16).”
Pao added that “the petition likely assumes the presence (and the coming) of periods of testing, and this petition should then be understood as a call to God for protecting His people from falling into sin in the midst of such testing (Matthew 26:39, 41).”
Philip F. Lawler, editor of Catholic World News, told The New York Times that the pope’s criticism of the traditional translation “isn’t reasonable.”
“Pope Francis has made a habit of saying things that throw people into confusion, and this is one of them,” Lawler said. “It just makes you wonder, where does it stop, what’s up for grabs. It’s cumulative unease.”
Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down: The Lord’s Prayer As a Manifesto for Revolution, called the changes “deeply problematic.”
“I was shocked and appalled,” he told the Seattle Times. “This is the Lord’s Prayer. It is not, and has never been, the pope’s prayer, and we have the very words of Jesus in the New Testament. It is those very words that the pope proposes to change. It is not only deeply problematic, it’s almost breathtaking.”
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Resources Authority says it has commenced a clampdown on illegal LPG retail outlets in Akwa Ibom State.
The state Coordinator, Ikechukwu Eseka, disclosed this on Thursday while receiving the state commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Bakshar Hussaini, in his office on a courtesy visit.
He said, “We have started enforcement of LPG retailers embarking on illegal decanting of LPG, filling stations, LPG refilling plants and other illegal downstream operations in the state.
“We are currently working on the illegal proliferation of decanting of LPG in the state, Eseka stated, adding that gas is very volatile, and some of them are using gas that is not meant for the purpose.”
He said he has directed that gas plant owners should not load gas on people who don’t have licenses NMDPRA in the state, warning that “decanting of gas from cylinder to cylinder is an illegal activity which is punishable by law.”
He also called on marketers to register and renew their licenses before operating LPG in the state.
“We used the opportunity to talk on the aspects of the downstream which has to do with our enforcement, sealing of filling stations and those who are using diesel for industrial purposes that are yet to register with NMDPRA.
“We have also commenced engagement with individuals and organisations using storage tanks that are over 500 litres, to come and register with the Authority in the state,” he added.
Eseka thanked the Commandant for coming to re-strategise and collaborate with the Authority in the state.
Earlier, the State Commandant of NSCDC, Hussaini, explained that the purpose of coming was to collaborate with NMDPRA on how to checkmate indiscriminate decanting of LPG in the state.
“I know with the present situation in the country, a lot of them are going to cry and you have to use human face to handle their cases so that we don’t injure the government and the public themselves,” he said.
He lamented that some people used their houses to sell cooking gas which can cause environmental hazards to the public.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced plans to phase out the Permanent Voter Cards, PVC.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made this known at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs, held at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja on Thursday.
This was part of the identified 142 recommendations released by the Commission which deals with the general state of preparedness, voter management, voter education and public communication, political parties and candidate management.
Other areas of recommendation include electoral operations and logistics management, election officials and personnel, partnership and collaboration, monitoring and supervision, election technology, voting and result management, election security, electoral offences and the electoral legal framework.
The Chairman said there are eight recommendations among the 142 which require legislative action by the National Assembly.
“The Commission also believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVC, as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day should be reviewed.
He, however, said that those who already have the Permanent Voter Cards can still use them to vote.
He added, “But going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation. ”
Yakubu said this new development will save costs and further eliminate the issues around the collection of Permanent Voter Cards.
He also said the practice of buying up the Permanent Voter Cards from voters to disenfranchise them, would be reduced.
President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to present the 2025 proposed budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
The announcement was made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during a plenary session, revealing that the President has sent a communication to that effect.
“The president has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025m budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on the 17th of December, 2024,” he said.
The proposed budget, totalling N47.9 trillion, was earlier announced by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu.
NMDPRA begins clampdown on illegal LPG retail outlets in Akwa Ibom
Elections in Nigeria: There’ll be no more need for voter cards – INEC
BREAKING: Tinubu to present 2025 budget proposal to National Assembly Tuesday
-
Politics1 week ago
Those indicted for attacks on Rivers LG secretariats won’t go free – Fubara vows
-
Sports1 week agoEPL: Why Man Utd lost 2-0 to Arsenal – Amorim
-
News1 week agoAlleged fraud: Pastor Tobi Adegboyega won’t be deported to Nigeria, not indicted – UK lawyer
-
Entertainment1 week agoAsake ranked most streamed Nigerian artiste on Spotify
-
News1 week agoEFCC announces biggest asset recovery as govt official forfeits estate with 753 duplexes
-
Opinions1 week ago10 ways the Tax Bills will make states richer
-
Business4 days agoWhy Naira is appreciating massively against dollar – CPPE
-
News2 days agoUS issues new visa directive for immigrant visa applicants