When Jesus had finished all this teaching, he said to his disciples: 2 "You know that in two days time, the festival of the Passover will be here; and that the Son of Man is to be given up to be crucified." 3 Then the chief priests and the councilors of the nation met in the house of the high priest, named Caiaphas,...
After that, Pilate had Jesus scourged. 2 The soldiers made a crown with some thorns, and put it on his head, and threw a purple robe round him. 3 They kept coming up to him and saying: "Long live the King of the Jews!" and they gave him blow after blow with their hands. 4 Pilate again came outside, and said to the people:...
The feast of the unleavened bread, known as the Passover, was near. 2 The chief priest and the teachers of the law were looking for an opportunity of destroying Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Now Satan took possession of Judas, who was known as Iscariot, and who belonged to the twelve; 4 And he went and discussed with the...
It was now two days before the festival of the Passover and the unleavened bread. The chief priests and teachers of the law were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus by stealth and put him to death; 2 For they said: "Not during the festival, for fear of a riot." 3 When Jesus was still at Bethany, in the house of Simon the...
On the first day of the week, early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been removed. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter, and to that other disciple who was Jesus' friend, and said to them: "They have taken away the Master out of the tomb, and we...
Then they all rose as a body and led Jesus before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him: "This is a man whom we found misleading our people, preventing them from paying taxes to Caesar, and claiming that he himself is Christ a King.'" 3 "Are you the King of the Jews?" Pilate asked him. "That is what you say," replied Jesus. 4...
As soon as it was daylight, the chief priests, after holding a consultation with the councilors and teachers of the law—that is to say, the whole high council—put Jesus in chains and took him away, and gave him up to Pilate. 2 "Are you the King of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "That is what you say," replied Jesus. 3 Then the chief priests brought...
At daybreak all the chief priests and the councilors of the nation consulted together against Jesus, to bring about his death. 2 They put him in chains and led him away, and gave him up to the Roman governor, Pilate. 3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that Jesus was condemned, repented of what he had done, and returned the thirty pieces of...
Later on, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. 2 It was in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas, who was called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, Zebediah's sons, and two other disciples of Jesus were together when Simon Peter said: 3 "I am going fishing." "We will come with you," said the others. They went out and...
But very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, taking with them the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb; 3 And, on going into it, they could not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were at a loss to account for...
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some spices, so that they might go and anoint the body of Jesus. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb after sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another: "Who will roll away the stone for us from the...
There is a humorous story about an American congressman who, fighting for the sanctity of the English language, exclaimed that if English was good enough for Jesus Christ it's good enough for him! As most of us know, Jesus did not speak English. His native language was Aramaic. And the Gospel scriptures were written in Greek. One of the early great progressive Christians was...
It's a shame that in the United States, we no longer teach Latin in our schools, for Latin has a grace, beauty, and music that English has a difficult time rivaling. This is not to say that Latin is better than English, only that each language has different strong points; and gracefulness is one area where Latin usually triumphs. We should be thankful that...
The following is the Lord's Prayer from The King James Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible, the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to pray, the prayer which is the Rosetta Stone for understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The prayer appears twice in the KJV Holy Bible: in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9-13, and in the Gospel of...
Radical German theologians such as Paul Tillich and David Friedrich Strauss have had a tremendous impact on what we call the Progressive Christianity today, their works being as vital and contemporary now as when they were written. One of our favorite Paul Tillich quotes is: "The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety...
The Lord's Prayer played a strong role in the services and worship of the Germans who settled in Pennsylvania. In homage to them, we offer a Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) translation of The Lord's Prayer, the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to pray. It is this prayer that Jesus advises us to pray instead of making requests for...
We have already shared the Lord's Prayer in Old English, so today we will follow that up with the Lord's Prayer in Middle English. The Old English (Anglo Saxon) literary period began around the middle of the 7th century, and Middle English slowly developed from there, with the classic work Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer) being written in the 1390s. A couple important things...
When looking for the Lord's Prayer in modern English, there are many versions from which to choose. One might think that we at the Living Hour would choose the Lord's Prayer as found in our own work "The New Century Gospels". However, in our version of the Gospels we balance the modern forms of English usage with the poetic King James Version, which...
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) was founder of the Christian Science movement, which become popular in the latter part of the 19th century---and today maintains over 1,700 affiliated churches around the world. While we at Living Hour don't consider ourselves Christian Scientists (with a capital S), we are strong believers that progressive Christianity can exist side by side with science, as you can read...
The Lord's Prayer in French is certainly one of the most beautiful versions of the "Our Father" (Notre Père') prayer. There have been many progressive Christian theologians and ministers among the French throughout history. If you aren't familiar of who the Living Hour considers to be progressive Christians, please see our post: Progressive Christianity Defined. One of our favorite progressive Christians among the French...
Today we would like to share a version of the Lord's Prayer in Old English (Anglo Saxon). For many of us, our only experience with Old English is reading the classic Old English book Beowulf. However, we also have a version of the Lord's Prayer in the West Saxon literary dialect. Old English itself is the earliest historical form of the English language, having...
In this Living Hour post, we'll share a Spanish translation of the Lord's Prayer (Padre Nuestro). Whenever one thinks about Spain and its contribution to progressive Christianity and theology, the works of Miguel de Unamuno come to mind—especially his book The Agony of Christianity. Don't let the title fool you, Unamuno's work isn't one of despair or depression but rather love and hope. In...
John Bradford (1510—1555) was an English Reformer and martyr, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Mary Tudor (aka "Bloody Mary"). He continued writing and preaching while imprisoned in the Tower, and thus was ultimately burned at the stake on 1 July 1555. Many scholars attribute the phrase, "There but for the grace of God, go I" to...
Some of the most eloquent Lord's Prayer commentary delivered by a 20th century minister was that of German Protestant theologian and lecturer Helmut Thielicke, who also was the rector of the University of Hamburg from 1960-1978. His sermons on the Lord's Prayer were delivered to congregations in Stuttgart during the punishing WW II air raids that the allies inflicted on Nazi Germany. They...
John Wesley's sermon on the Lord's Prayer is certainly among the most well-known sermons on the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. Wesley (1703-1791) was known as a strong opponent of the doctrines of Calvinism, and after engaging with the Moravians, he ultimately became recognized as a co-founder of the Methodist movement, as well as having an strong influence on Pentecostals. Wesley's sermon on...
The Lord's Prayer is a popular subject for the Sunday sermon. One such sermon was delivered by Charles Kingsley and included in his old book Sermons for the Times. Kingsley was a 19th century priest of the Church of England, a university professor, historian, social activist, and a novelist (as well as a friend of Charles Darwin). Kingsley's analysis of the Lord's Prayer differs...
Throughout Christian history, there have been various pastors and writers who have attempted to explain the meaning of The Lord's Prayer, as seen through the lens of their personal belief system and interpretation of the Gospels. Below you will find a short analysis written by the Reverend Andrew Murray in 1896. For a longer and more contemporary analysis, please read The Living Hour's Progressive...
