Burgon's Damning Facts 3 The Lord's Prayer

On page 35 of The Revision Revised, here's a summing up of Burgon's analysis of changes made by the Revisionists to the Lord's Prayer. This is at the conclusion of a discussion of the work of the heretic Marcion in some of the Greek texts preferred by Westcott and Hort, of which I will only quote his opening remarks on page 33:

We shall perhaps be told that, scandalously corrupt as the text of Aleph, B C D hereabouts may be, no reason has been shown as yet for suspecting that heretical depravation ever had anything to do with such phenomena. That (we answer) is only because the writings of the early depravers and fabricators of Gospels have universally perished. From the slender relics of their iniquitous performances which have survived to our time, we are sometimes able to lay our finger on a foul blot and to say, 'This came from Tatian's Diatessaron; and that from Marcion's mutilated recension of the Gospel according to S. Luke.

And so on. Now on to page 35:

Besides omitting the 11 words which B (Codex Vaticanus) omits jointly with Aleph (Codex Sinaiticus) [Our, which art in heaven, but deliver us from evil], Drs. Westcott and Hort erase from the Book of Life those other 11 precious words which are omitted by B only. [Thy will be done, as in heaven, also on the earth].

I've never investigated the wording of the Lord's Prayer myself, although I've been bothered that some versions have "debts" where others have "trespasses" and had no idea where either came from or which was the best rendering. Now I see for the first time that the King James has "debts" in Matthew but in Luke has "sins" and then a phrase about those who are "indebted to us."

Luke 11: 2b-4 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

It certainly makes me wonder why they thought there was any need to change any of this. It reads fine, it says what it ought to say. Apparently the reason for the change is the readings in the Greek texts so loved by Westcott and Hort though condemned by Burgon -- Sinaiticus, also known as Aleph, and Vaticanus, or B.

Burgon concludes:

And in this way it comes to pass that the mutilated condition to which the scalpel of Marcion the herectic reduced the LORD's Prayer some 1730 years ago, (for the mischief can all be traced back to him!), is palmed off on the Church of England by the Revisionists as the work of the HOLY GHOST.