The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum 2 questions re the Lord's Prayer

Hi all--<br><br>Are there differences of significance that really matter between the following, and if so, what's preferable and why?<br><br>1- "Our Father, WHO art in heaven.........." or "Our Father, WHICH art in heaven....."<br>2- "forgive us our trespasses...." or "forgive us our debts......"<br><br>Thanks in advance for your responses........<br>Cecil

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]Are there differences of significance that really matter between the following, and if so, what's preferable and why?</font><hr></blockquote><p>IMHO, No! [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]<br><br>

Greetings Cecil,<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] Are there differences of significance that really matter between the following, and if so, what's preferable and why?</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] 1- "Our Father, WHO art in heaven.........." or "Our Father, WHICH art in heaven....."</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>Not really, though I prefer to use "Who" since we are dealing with a personal being and not an "it".<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] 2- "forgive us our trespasses...." or "forgive us our debts......"</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>The only difference here may be one of emphasis or perspective. A debt refers more closely to something that one owes or is obligated to give. A trespass is more of a positive violation or a crossing over the line. You might think of the former as a sin of ommission and the latter as one of commission. We are guilty for both having sinned (trespasses) and falling short of the glory of God (debt). It is difficult to have a sharp distinction between them, but I would say there is a slight shift in perspective with each one.<br><br>That being said, I would advocate the use of "debts" since that is the word used in the Matthew account from which we traditionally recite the prayer, and it is a different word than "trespass", which is used later in Matthew 6:14. Any of them would be legitimate though given the fact that the Luke account uses the general term for "sin" in place of either "debt" or "tresspass"! [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]<br><br>My $.02,<br><br>~Jason<br>