FABRICATIONS · LITURGICAL INTERPOLATION
Longer vs Shorter Lord’s Prayer
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
The KJV includes three extra phrases in the Lord's Prayer, while the NIV and ESV omit them, following earlier manuscripts like Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. These differences highlight how later manuscripts, such as the Textus Receptus, incorporated additions. This is significant because the Lord’s Prayer is central to Christian worship, and variations in length and wording suggest that even foundational prayers were not transmitted uniformly.
THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
The longer form matches the well-known version in Matthew and early liturgical practice. They see it as a harmonization that enriches devotion rather than distorts doctrine.
THE ISLAMIC POSITION
The discrepancy between the accounts and the need for expansion of the Lord's Prayer, most central to Christian worship, raises doubts about the authenticity of the entire biblical record. If such core devotional texts were subject to alteration, it suggests that the Gospel texts were shaped by community traditions rather than being pristine, unaltered divine guidance. This challenges the notion of unwavering authenticity in the biblical narrative.
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Longer vs Shorter Lord’s Prayer