By DIXIE B. KOLDITZ
The Church of England and the New Age Anglican Church are working to change the King James version of the Lord's Prayer into a modern language.
The original Lord's Prayer was given by Jesus Christ during the Sermon on the Mount and is found in the New Testament, Matthew 6: 9-13, and in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 13:9.
Phrases such as 'Our Father who art in heaven' will be changed to 'our Father who is there' and 'lead us not into temptation' to 'save us from the time of trial.'
Don LeFevre, from the Public Affairs Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the members of the LDS Church look upon the Lord's Prayer as a guide for all prayer.
'Latter-day Saints do not recite the Lord's prayer as a memorized piece, but use the elements of it as a guide in expressing their own personal heartfelt feelings,' LeFevre said.
According Sue Bergin in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, words such as 'lead us not into temptation,' are resolved in the Joseph Smith Translation.
'' ... And suffer us not to be led into temptation.' Christ's purpose appears to be to inspire mortals to ask daily for God's help as they try to resist evil and to live purely,' the JST reads.
However, Tom Corkish, a pastor at the Anchor Baptist Church, has stronger feelings about the change.
People have changed the word of God with every new edition of the Bible, Corkish said.
'It is not the first time that the prayer has been changed, and I do not think the words of the Lord should be changed,' he said.
Corkish said he feels that changing the Lord's Prayer is a punishable mistake because the prayer is a revelation of God.
'Revelations 22:18 says there is a curse that comes with changing the words of God,' he said.
Although translation is always an attempt to make language more understandable, with all these changes nothing will be left as an authority, Corkish said.
However, Roger Keller, associate professor of Church History, said he feels some people think the old version is hard to understand and the paraphrased version puts the prayer in a language of the present.
Keller said he did not have a problem with the translation because it is an attempt to make the prayer language more understandable and meaningful to the younger generation.
Keller said translations can lose some meaning but it makes the language more inclusive.
'I agree with the translation because so far the changes made in the contemporary English version of the Bible have put clarity in the things taught,' Keller said. 'It does not mean that if something is contemporary it loses it simplicity or meaning.'
Keller said the new language helps people understand Paul and other prophets better.
'I support this new work because it will make it easier for people to read their Bibles and (make it) easier for children to understand prayer.'
Keller added that not many children understand the word 'hallowed,' but in the new version there is a bit more clarity.