Prayer. Predestination. Purgatory. Separation of Powers by Pastor Walter Snyder Q: Where in the Bible may I find The Lord's Prayer? Such a basic question---can you help? A: Jesus gives the prayer twice. The earlier account is in the Sermon on the Mount, in the context of teaching on fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Here, He "volunteers" the information to His disciples and the larger group during the sermon (Mt 6:5-11). Later on, the disciples, knowing of John the Baptizer's devoted prayer life, how he'd instructed his disciples, and how active in prayer Jesus was, asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray. (Lk 11:1)" The Matthew prayer is longer and is normally the basis of what is used among Christians. Most translations of Scripture omit "for Thine/Yours is the kingdom..." from the prayer. This is because the closing words were quite likely added at a later time. Taken together, the two accounts provide both a prayer text and a framework for or model for our prayer lives. In Luke, Jesus says, "When you pray, say [this]." This is set as a command to repeat what He tells them. In Matthew, the Lord says, "Pray then like this...." Here, Christ holds up this prayer as the correct form for all prayer. I venture to say that we should ignore neither the model nor the exact prayer text. Q: What do Ephesians 1:4 and Ephesians 1:11 mean? Thank you. A: Both verses deal with election and predestination. Among Christians, there are a variety of interpretations but the underlying theme is that God reveals that certain things about us and our eternal destinations have been determined from all eternity. Verse 4 notes that God "chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." This shows that predestination applies to the believers, since unbelievers can never be presented to God "holy and blameless." In verse 11, predestination is tied to the inheritance we have in Christ: "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will...." Some argue that God both predestines believers to heaven and unbelievers to hell, but this is a case built on human logic rather than any clear words of Scripture. God may ~condemn~ people to eternal damnation, but this is not set from all eternity. Q: Please show me anywhere in the Holy Bible where they mention Purgatory! A: If I do this, I need to use a Bible other than the ones I own, since defenses of Purgatory replace clear Scripture with human logic. Some try to stretch Deuteronomy 32:35 or Hebrews 10:30 to back up the notion of a place where believers who die make final payment for any earthly punishment still owed at the time of death. However, these verses refer God's overall divine justice, especially in punishing sin. Sometimes this punishment is earthly; it also has an eternal aspect, as applied to hell. Among who teach of Purgatory, three passages are normally used, including 1 Corinthians 3:15 and 1 Peter 1:6-7. However, context indicates that these refer to tribulations suffered in this life for the purification of our faith and the rooting out of sinful attitudes and behavior. The final "Scripture" is the Apocryphal passage of 2 Maccabees 12:43-45, telling of Judas Maccabeus making "atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. [RSV]" Q: I have a U.S. Constitution question for you. The general agreement among us of the "religious right" is that the basis for system of government that splits power between the three branches is derived from Isaiah 33:22 which states, "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us." I have heard sermons and other sources talking about this but is there any evidence that we can point to that is irrefutable to support this claim? A: While the ~idea~ of a three-fold government may have come from passages such as this, a democracy of three-branches is alien to the Scriptures. In fact, most places in the Bible where a large group of people agree with each other also finds them in disagreement with God. This includes the desire for a king, the desire to worship idols and other false gods, and various rebellions, such as Absalom's and Jeroboam's. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with "copying" God, but we must be careful when we apply His behavior or attributes to man. God is a dictator, not an elected official. No one made Him judge; He is such by right of creation and of being God. He gives laws not because we ask for them, but because He must so He can order a disorderly humanity. Our American republic may mimic some of what He does, but it will always be a flawed and incomplete replication. Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard Version~, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Ask the Pastor, © 2003 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others. Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."