Parks misses the mark; makes good point

Parks misses the mark; makes good point

In Father Ken Parks Nov. 23 commentary on prayer, he states our need "to forgive the sins of all those that injure us." In this, he uses the rendering of Matthew 6:9: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." Perhaps this version by The Living Bible (1971) can squeak by as an admitted "paraphrase" -- not a "translation," but it leads to errors such as that of Father Parks'.

The plain and simple fact of biblical terminology is such that "sin" is a human fault that can be only against God. The Hebrew word is "katah" (caw-taw), the Greek is "amartia" (ah-mar-tee-ah). Nowhere in biblical literature are either of these words used in human-to-human activity. Only against God is a person guilty of such conduct, guilty of "sin."

Interestingly, the text in Matthew 6:9-12 does not use amartia. It uses "ophilemata" (oh-fee-lay-ma-ta), which has the unmistakable meaning of being in debt. "Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors" cannot be challenged as the most correct English translation of verse 12.

Then, in verses 14-15, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Here, the Greek is "paraptomata" (pah-rap-tow-ma-ta). This word has the original meaning of "missing the mark," but a wider understanding is "to be where one ought not to be." Hence, "trespasses" can hardly be improved upon as the English equivalent.

And there is this: Luke has a similar, somewhat shorter version which linguistically sanctions all this. He writes, "Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who is indebted to us." (11:4)

The former word is amartia (sins), the latter ophilemata (indebted). The deliberate avoidance of "sins" in the second part is conclusive! The writer knows that "sin" is human conduct only against God -- thus using amartia, but since that word cannot be used in human-to-human conduct, he uses a form of ophilemata.

Such linguistic and theological errors began when seminaries ceased to require Hebrew and Greek study, are continued by such poor paraphrased versions of scripture as The Living Bible, and are still perpetuated by articles such as that of Father Parks and praying, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."

But, let it be stated that the wider point of Father Park's article is sound, and I thank him for it.

Doc Irwin

Bella Vista

Editorial on 12/06/2016