Benjamin Franklin Part 72

1. Heavenly Father,

2. May all revere thee,

3. And become thy dutiful Children and faithful Subjects.

4. May thy Laws be obeyed on Earth as perfectly as they are in Heaven.

5. Provide for us this Day as thou hast hitherto daily done.

6. Forgive us our Trespa.s.ses and enable us likewise to forgive those that offend us.

7. Keep us out of Temptation, and deliver us from Evil.--

_Reasons for the Change of Expression_

Old Version. _Our Father which art in Heaven._

New V.--_Heavenly Father_, is more concise, equally expressive, and better modern English.--

Old V.--_Hallowed be thy Name._ This seems to relate to an Observance among the Jews not to p.r.o.nounce the proper or peculiar Name of G.o.d, they deeming it a Profanation so to do. We have in our Language no _proper Name_ for G.o.d; the Word _G.o.d_ being a common or general Name, expressing all chief Objects of Wors.h.i.+p, true or false. The Word _hallowed_ is almost obsolete. People now have but an imperfect Conception of the Meaning of the Pet.i.tion. It is therefore proposed to change the expression into

New V.--_May all revere thee._

Old V.--_Thy Kingdom come._ This Pet.i.tion seems suited to the then Condition of the Jewish Nation. Originally their State was a Theocracy. G.o.d was their King. Dissatisfied with that kind of Government, they desired a visible earthly King in the manner of the Nations round them. They had such Kings accordingly; but their Offerings were _due_ to G.o.d on many Occasions by the Jewish Law, which when People could not pay, or had forgotten as Debtors are apt to do, it was proper to pray that those Debts might be forgiven. Our Liturgy uses neither the _Debtors_ of Matthew, nor the _indebted_ of Luke, but instead of them speaks of _those that trespa.s.s against us_.

Perhaps the Considering it as a Christian Duty to forgive Debtors, was by the Compilers thought an inconvenient Idea in a trading Nation.--There seems however something presumptuous in this Mode of Expression, which has the Air of proposing ourselves as an Example of Goodness fit for G.o.d to imitate. _We hope you will at least be as good as we are_; you see we forgive one another, and therefore we pray that you would forgive us. Some have considered it in another sense, _Forgive us as we forgive others_; i.e. If we do not forgive others we pray that thou wouldst not forgive us. But this being a kind of conditional _Imprecation_ against ourselves, seems improper in such a Prayer; and therefore it may be better to say humbly & modestly

New V.--_Forgive us our Trespa.s.ses, and enable us likewise to forgive those that offend us._ This instead of a.s.suming that we have already in & of ourselves the Grace of Forgiveness, acknowledges our Dependance on G.o.d, the Fountain of Mercy for any Share we may have in it, praying that he would communicate of it to us.--

Old V.--_And lead us not into Temptation._ The Jews had a Notion, that G.o.d sometimes tempted, or directed or permitted the Tempting of People. Thus it was said he tempted Pharaoh; directed Satan to tempt Job; and a false Prophet to tempt Ahab, &c. Under this Persuasion it was natural for them to pray that he would not put them to such severe Trials. We now suppose that Temptation, so far as it is supernatural, comes from the Devil only, and this Pet.i.tion continued conveys a Suspicion which in our present Conception seems unworthy of G.o.d, therefore might be altered to

New V.--_Keep us out of Temptation._ Happiness was not increas'd by the Change, and they had reason to wish and pray for a Return of the Theocracy, or Government of G.o.d. Christians in these Times have other Ideas when they speak of the Kingdom of G.o.d, such as are perhaps more adequately express'd by

New V.--_And become thy dutiful Children & faithful Subjects._

Old V.--_Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven._

New V.--_May thy Laws be obeyed on Earth as perfectly as they are in Heaven._

Old V.--_Give us this Day our daily Bread._ Give us what is _ours_, seems to put us in a Claim of Right, and to contain too little of the grateful Acknowledgment and Sense of Dependance that becomes Creatures who live on the daily Bounty of their Creator. Therefore it is changed to

New V.--_Provide for us this Day, as thou hast hitherto daily done._

Old V.--_Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors._ Matthew.

_Forgive us our Sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us._ Luke.

THE LEVeE

[1779?]

In the first chapter of Job we have an account of a transaction said to have arisen in the court, or at the _levee_, of the best of all possible princes, or of governments by a single person, viz. that of G.o.d himself.

At this _levee_, in which the sons of G.o.d were a.s.sembled, Satan also appeared.

It is probable the writer of that ancient book took his idea of this _levee_ from those of the eastern monarchs of the age he lived in.

It is to this day usual at the _levees_ of princes, to have persons a.s.sembled who are enemies to each other, who seek to obtain favor by whispering calumny and detraction, and thereby ruining those that distinguish themselves by their virtue and merit. And kings frequently ask a familiar question or two, of every one in the circle, merely to show their benignity. These circ.u.mstances are particularly exemplified in this relation.

If a modern king, for instance, finds a person in the circle who has not lately been there, he naturally asks him how he has pa.s.sed his time since he last had the pleasure of seeing him? the gentleman perhaps replies that he has been in the country to view his estates, and visit some friends. Thus Satan being asked whence he cometh? answers, "From going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it." And being further asked, whether he had considered the uprightness and fidelity of the prince's servant Job, he immediately displays all the malignance of the designing courtier, by answering with another question: "Doth Job serve G.o.d for naught? Hast thou not given him immense wealth, and protected him in the possession of it? Deprive him of that, and he will curse thee to thy face." In modern phrase, Take away his places and his pensions, and your Majesty will soon find him in the opposition.

This whisper against Job had its effect. He was delivered into the power of his adversary, who deprived him of his fortune, destroyed his family, and completely ruined him.

The book of Job is called by divines a sacred poem, and, with the rest of the Holy Scriptures, is understood to be written for our instruction.

What then is the instruction to be gathered from this supposed transaction?

Trust not a single person with the government of your state. For if the Deity himself, being the monarch may for a time give way to calumny, and suffer it to operate the destruction of the best of subjects; what mischief may you not expect from such power in a mere man, though the best of men, from whom the truth is often industriously hidden, and to whom falsehood is often presented in its place, by artful, interested, and malicious courtiers?

And be cautious in trusting him even with limited powers, lest sooner or later he sap and destroy those limits, and render himself absolute.

For by the disposal of places, he attaches to himself all the placeholders, with their numerous connexions, and also all the expecters and hopers of places, which will form a strong party in promoting his views. By various political engagements for the interest of neighbouring states or princes, he procures their aid in establis.h.i.+ng his own personal power. So that, through the hopes of emolument in one part of his subjects, and the fear of his resentment in the other, all opposition falls before him.

PROPOSED NEW VERSION OF THE BIBLE[101]

[1779?]

TO THE PRINTER OF***

SIR,

It is now more than one hundred and seventy years since the translation of our common English Bible. The language in that time is much changed, and the style, being obsolete, and thence less agreeable, is perhaps one reason why the reading of that excellent book is of late so much neglected. I have therefore thought it would be well to procure a new version, in which, preserving the sense, the turn of phrase and manner of expression should be modern. I do not pretend to have the necessary abilities for such a work myself; I throw out the hint for the consideration of the learned; and only venture to send you a few verses of the first chapter of Job, which may serve as a sample of the kind of version I would recommend.

A. B.

PART OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF JOB MODERNIZED

OLD TEXT

NEW VERSION

Verse 6. Now there was a day when the sons of G.o.d came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also amongst them.

Verse 6. And it being _levee_ day in heaven, all G.o.d's n.o.bility came to court, to present themselves before him; and Satan also appeared in the circle, as one of the ministry.