Already as a kid, I felt uneasy, "How is it possible that Our Father in Heaven leads us into temptation?" Year in, and year out, I am saying the text in German, English, and French, in Catholic messes, Protestant services, at funerals, and baptisms almost mechanically, but I am still hesitating when it comes to "and lead us not into temptation."
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| A better translation into modern Lower German? "Let us not come off your law and make us free from all that hurts us." (©Wikipedia) |
Francis's argument goes like this, "God does not tempt you. The Lord only tries you with good gifts to draw you to Himself. You misinterpret the words when you think God leads you to the temptation to test you. No. The gracious Father in heaven admits evil, but he does not create it. He is good, from which all goodness springs forth. But there is evil. It has existed since the moment Lucifer rose up against God. It is up to you to make good out of evil by defeating it and asking the divine Father for the power to beat it."
"I am the one that falls, but it is not Him who leads me into temptation. A father does not do such a thing. A father helps you to get up again. The one who leads you in temptation is Satan."
What a Protestant view! Luther would have been delighted, for he was obsessed with Satan. The devil was fighting him whenever something went wrong in his reformatory drive. The revolting farmers had Satan in them, and the obstinate Jews were young devils and therefore condemned.
So finally, from now on, we will pray to the Lord, "make that we do not fall into temptation and deliver us from evil. Amen."
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