Lord’s Prayer Pt. 7 – The Doxology Dilemma

Have you ever been reading your Bible and suddenly come across a verse or phrase that is bracketed? You know, something like what you’ll find in Matthew 6:13: And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]

If you have a study Bible and you’ve taken the time to look at the notes concerning passages like this one, you know the reason for the brackets is that these passages are not found in the earliest manuscripts of the scriptures in question. So what should we do in situations like these? Should we cut the passages out of our Bibles like Thomas Jefferson had a habit of doing, or whole-heartedly believe them because, bracketed or not, they made it in the book?

The approach I’m in favor of is looking to see if the earliest Christians quoted these passages, and if they did, how they interpreted them. If they treated a bracketed passage like it was a normal part of scripture, I feel comfortable doing the same.

Here’s what a couple of them had to say about the concluding bracketed portion of the Lord’s Prayer:

The Doxology at the end of the Lord’s Prayer has equally Jewish parallels. Thus, one of the daily evening prayers concludes with the words, ‘For Yours is the kingdom;’ … The words ‘the power and the glory’ seem to come from 1 Chronicles 29:11. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 999

We, together with you, sing our praises to Christ, who has the power of life and death, saying, “You are the true Light, proceeding from the true Light; the true God, begotten of the true God; the one Lord … but for our sakes also perfect man; in Your own nature the King absolute and sovereign. … For Yours is the glory, and the power, and the greatness, and the majesty, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.” – Methodius 290CE, Volume 6, p. 661

What a valuable resource the early Christians are! Not only do their writings demonstrate that the closing line of the Lord’s Prayer was part of the tradition of the early believers; they also provide us with commentary on the line’s scriptural origin and meaning!

Another passage you will either find bracketed or altogether omitted from your bible is the last phrase of Mark 9:29.

Jesus’ disciples were being ridiculed by Jewish scribes for not being able to drive a demon out of a boy. Jesus asks for the boy to be brought to Him, rebukes the unclean spirit, and commands it to never enter him again. Later, the disciples ask Jesus why they couldn’t drive it out. Verse 29 states: And He told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer [and fasting].” 

Did the early Christians write about this bracketed phrase?

Let us also attend to this, “This kind will not go out except by prayer and fasting,” in order that if at any time it is necessary that we should be engaged in the healing of one suffering from such a disorder … devoting ourselves to prayer and fasting, [we] may be successful as we pray for the sufferer, and by our own fasting may thrust out the unclean spirit from him. – Origen 225CE, Volume 9, p. 759 [CD-ROM]

I don’t know about you, but I find it odd that they were trying to expel a demon without using prayer. What is equally strange to me, especially considering that Christian fasting was not part of my tradition growing up, is that Jesus said certain demons will not come out without both prayer AND fasting.

Finally, according to the earliest manuscripts, the last chapter of Mark ends in verse 8 with these words, “So they went out and started running from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.” Kind of a weird way to end the greatest story ever told.

The early Christians, however, say Mark didn’t end there. If an early Christian could talk, he would tell you to read all the way to verse 20, and not to skip over verses 17-18. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

I know some of those promises may seem a bit weird, but several of the early Christians referenced Mark 16:9-20. They believed this passage, and that all of God’s promises were ‘yes’ and ‘amen’. They believed that Jesus wants His kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth through His servants as it is in heaven. Do you want that too?

May His kingdom, glory and power move mightily through you this week!