THE FIFTH PETITION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE EYES OF THE AFRICAN

CHURCH FATHERS AND MARTIN LUTHER

Assignment for
SYS507

Benard Mwesigwa

January 31, 2023

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE FIFTH PETITION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE EYES OF THE AFRICAN
CHURCH FATHERS AND MARTIN LUTHER..........................................................................i

TABLE OF CONTENT.................................................................................................................ii

SECTION 1:1. THE FIFTH PETITION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE EYES OF
AFRICAN CHURCH FATHERS AND MARTIN LUTHER..............................................1

SECTION 1:2. THESIS STATEMENT................................................................................1

SECTION 1:3. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................1

SECTION 2:1. CHRIST AND FORGIVENESS..................................................................2

SECTION 2:2. NEW TESTAMENT ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS.................................2

SECTION 2:3.THE LORD’S PRAYER...............................................................................3

SECTION 3. AFRICAN CHURCH FATHERS ON THE FIFTH PETITION OF THE

LORD’S PRAYER................................................................................................................4

SECTION 4. MARTIN LUTHER’S PERSPECTIVE..........................................................7

SECTION 5. CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS............7

SECTION 6. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................8

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................10

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 SECTION 1:1. THE FIFTH PETITION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE EYES OF
AFRICAN CHURCH FATHERS AND MARTIN LUTHER.

SECTION 1:2. THESIS STATEMENT.

This essay will deal with the fifth petition of the Lord’s prayer and expound on what it

meant for the Church Fathers, and Dr. Martin Luther. The author will argue that the

petition “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” is structurally

central to the Lord’s Prayer and central to the life of contemporary Christian, based on evidence

from the African Church Fathers and Martin Luther’s expositions.

SECTION 1:3. INTRODUCTION.

In the book of Mathew chapter 6 the Lord teaches people how to pray which is known as

the Lord’s prayer. The church fathers wrote commentaries on the Lord’s prayer petition by

petition. Dr. Martin Luther in his exposition on the Lord’s prayer divides it into seven petitions

with well detailed explanations. The fifth petition is central to the life of contemporary Christian

based on the evidence from the African Church Fathers and Martin Luther. Forgiveness is not

something easy for a person, nor it was easy for the early church. However, the fifth petition

helps us to learn that the Lord forgives us our sins, and we ought to forgive our brothers and

sisters. The church fathers and Dr. Martin Luther comments on the fifth petition of the Lord’s

prayer is relevant to the modern or contemporary Christian.

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SECTION 2:1. CHRIST AND FORGIVENESS.

Jesus Christ many times preached and taught his disciples and the followers about

forgiveness of sins. Before Jesus Christ, John the Baptist emphasized the ministry of repentance

and forgiveness of sins. In Luke 23:34 Christ prays to his father while on the cross, “And Jesus

said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”1 Jesus intercedes for us to the father

that our sins should be forgiven. For they crucified Him, yet He was without sins and blameless.

We explore more to see forgiveness of sins in the New Testament.

SECTION 2:2. NEW TESTAMENT ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

In the New Testament there are two teachings on forgiveness; Forgiving our neighbors and

asking for forgiveness from the person we have wronged or trespassed and asking forgiveness

from God and knowing that the Lord forgives our sins. The New Testament talks about

forgiveness of sins several times. In the synoptic Gospels, Christ taught the disciples to forgive

each other, how to pray for forgiveness from the Lord. In the book of Mathew 18:21-22, Peter

asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up

to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times”0. He

Mathew 6:14 Christ after teaching the Lord’s prayer says, “For if you forgive other people when

they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” This shows the need to forgive

one another and how good it is for a Christian. We learn also that St. Paul in his letter to

Philemon, he requests Philemon to forgive Onesimus his servant to welcome him back as a

brother.

The Lord Jesus Christ assures the disciples that His Father forgives us our sins. Mark 11:25
1
. Luke 23:34
0
. Mathew 11:25

2
says, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that

your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” On the cross Christ prayed, “Father forgive

them; for they do not know what they are doing...” these were the exact words of our Lord. Saint

Paul in his letter to the Colossians 1:13-14, “He has redeemed us from the power of darkness and

conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His

blood, the forgiveness of sins.”0 Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:8, “If we say we have sins, we

deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to

forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”0 This is evidence that

Forgiveness in the New Testament, which Jesus and the apostles taught, and preached.

SECTION 2: 3.THE LORD’S PRAYER.

It is called the Lord’s prayer because it was given to the disciples by Christ Jesus himself.

Luke supposes that Jesus was praying in certain place and one of His disciples asked him how to

pray and he taught them. In Mathew 6:9-13 the Lord teaches the Lord’s prayer on the sermon on

the mount. This is important because it was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Below is the Lord’s

prayer.

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

Your Kingdom come, your Will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

0
. Col 1:13-14
0
. 1 John 1:8

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 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”0

The fifth petition is translated differently. In some translation it is, “ And forgive us our

sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” Debt is translated as sins. This petition is the

fundamental or key of the Lord’s prayer. Wilhelm Lohe writes, “Forgiveness of sins is presented

in the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth chief parts, for it is the overarching theme of the

catechism.”0

SECTION 3. AFRICAN CHURCH FATHERS ON THE FIFTH PETITION OF THE

LORD’S PRAYER.

The African church fathers contributed a lot on the development of Christian theology. In

the book entitled How Africa shaped the Christian Mind, Thomas Odens writes, “Africa played a

decisive role in the formation of Christian Culture. Decisive intellectual achievements of

Christianity were explored and understood first in Africa before they were recognized in Europe,

and a millennium before they found their way to North America.”0 Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian,

and Augustine commented on the fifth petition with spiritual eyes that is relevant to us today.

St. Augustine in his letter to Proba, explains the meaning of “Forgive us our trespasses, as

we forgive those who trespass against us” he writes, “when we say: Forgive us our trespasses, as

we forgive those who trespass against us. We are reminding ourselves of what we must ask and

0
. Matt 6:9-13
0
. Lohe Wilhelm, “The root of it all: The fifth petition of the Lord’s prayer” Christ for
you, March 19, 2020, https://www.1517.org/articles/the-root-of-it-all-the-fifth-petition-of-the-
lords-prayer
0
. Thomas Oden, How Africa shaped the Christian Mind, (Inter-Varsity press, 2007), 9,
https:/africansdahistory.org

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what we must do to be worthy in turn to receive.”0 St. Augustine reminds us that it is important

to forgive so that we are also forgiven by the Lord.

Tertullian explains in depth the “pardon us our debts” he writes that, “A confession is a

request for pardon, because whoever asks pardon confesses a wrongdoing.”0 He further states

that, “A debt, in scripture, is an image of a wrongdoing, because wrongdoing always owes a debt

to judgement and is avenged by it.” He interludes by explaining a Bible parable in Mathew

18:23-26, “Our profession that we to ‘pardon our debtors’ is consonant with the fact that the

same servant, who was set free by his master but would in turn not spare his debtor, was on this

account brought before his master and sent to torture until he should pay the very last cent, that is

the very slightest wrongdoing.”0 In other words, by using this example he points out that we

should forgive in order to be doing because a debt is a wrongdoing.

The fifth petition comes after the give us this day our daily bread. Cyprian argues

concretely why it is so; he writes, “after asking for the supply of food we ask pardon of our sin,

so that the one who is fed by God may live in God, and provision be made not only for this

present and transitory life but for the eternal life to which we might come if our sins are

pardoned”0 I agree with Cyprian because everything is for the Lord provides for his people even

those who have heard the Gospel, but calls us to repentance and trust in his promises of

forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The Holy spirit works faith in us and trust the Lord. It isn’t

mere trust, but to ask for forgiveness of sins, and be forgiven as we live a Godly life. St. Paul

writes in Ephesians 2:8-10 that we were saved by grace through faith, and it is not our own doing
. St. Augustine of Hippo, “Our Father, The Lord’s Prayer”, Cross Road Initiative, Oct
0

23 , 2020, https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/ourfatheronthelordsprayer/
rd

. Alistair Stewart-Sykes, Tertullian Cyprian Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer (New York:
0

St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004), 47.

0
. Alistair Stewart-Sykes, Tertullian Cyprian Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer, 47-48
0
. Alistair Stewart-Sykes, Tertullian Cyprian Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer, 8-82

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but a gift from God and no one should boost over it for we are God’s workmanship, created in

Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Cyprian continues, “The Lord instructs you, therefore, to be peaceable and agreeable and of one

mind in his house. He wishes that we should remain as we are when we are reborn in our second

birth, that those who are children of God should remain in the peace of God, and that those who

are in possession of one spirit should possess one mind and heart”. The essence of Cyprian’s

argument is that when brothers forgive each other, they live in peace.

Origen observes the sinful man and the debt he has to the Lord, he states, “We are

moreover indebted to Christ who has purchased us with his own blood, just as a domestic slave is

indebted to his purchaser for the sum that has been given for him. We are also indebted to the

Holy Spirit, by whom we are marked for a day of redemption, a debt we pay when we do not

cause him grief. We cause him no grief when we bear the fruit required of us, as he is present

with us and gives life to the soul.”0 In other words, we must always confess our sins and ask for

forgiveness from the Lord. For the Lord is merciful and forgiving.

As we have seen from the church fathers understanding and explanation of the fifth

petition, it remains central and key to a life of contemporary Christian.

SECTION 4. MARTIN LUTHER’S PERSPECTIVE.

Dr. Martin Luther in his small catechism explains about the fifth petition of the Lord’s prayer

that, “Instead we ask that God would give us all things by grace, for we daily sin much and

0
. Alistair Stewart-Sykes, Tertullian Cyprian Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer, 187

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indeed deserve only punishment. So, on the other hand, we too, genuinely want to forgive

heartily and to do good gladly to those who sin against us.”0 This gives us comfort that

forgiveness takes away guilt and unites man to God the mediator Jesus Christ. Even in the Large

Catechism he expounds on it thoroughly. He states that it is for the proud people too, “Those

who boast of their goodness and despise others should examine themselves and put this petition

uppermost in their mind. They will find that they are no more righteous than anyone else, that in

the presence of God all people must fall on their knees and be glad that we come to forgiveness.

In short, unless God constantly forgives, we are lost.”0 Dr. Luther reminds us that no one is

righteous or without sin before the Lord, but we must come daily and repent all our sins; the sins

that we know, and those that we don’t know. He further states, “Thus this petition really means

that God does not wish to regard our sins and punish us as we daily deserve but to deal

graciously with us, to forgive as he has promised, and thus to grant us a joyful and cheerful

conscience so that we may stand before him in prayer.” Luther urges that this petition is

fundamental because it draws a Christian to God for repentance and forgiveness of sins.

SECTION 5. CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

Modern psychologists have explained forgiveness in a merely human sense of restoring a broken

relationship between two people or making peace with each other. This is not satisfying because

they don’t know the aspect of God forgiving us our sins. Gregory L. Jones in his book entitled

. Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert, The Book of Concord, trans Charles Arand,
0

William Russell, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 200), 358.

0
. Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert, The Book of Concord, 452.

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Embodying Forgiveness writes, “It seems as though Christian forgiveness is too costly for many

people; Consequently, they seek a cheap therapeutic forgiveness in its place”0. The forgiveness is

God’s because it comforts the souls and draws us closer to Christ. A modern Christian should

understand that the Lord’s prayer is given by the Lord himself. The fifth petition of the Lord’s

prayer should always remind to settle our differences with one another and believe that the Lord

has forgiven all our sins. Mathew 18:15-17 says, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out

their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they

will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the

testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they

refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”0

The contemporary church must learn from the African church fathers and Dr. Martin

Luther on forgiveness and the fifth petition, than the contemporary popular thought of

psychologist therapeutic forgiveness.

SECTION 6. CONCLUSION.

The Lord’s prayer remains instrumental to a Christian. The fifth petition of, “forgive us our

trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” teaches us to forgive our neighbor and

ask forgiveness from them. At the same time, we come to the Lord who forgives us our sins and

cleanses our hearts. The African Church Fathers teachings on this petition is evidence that

forgiveness is divine and necessary for our benefit to live in harmony whereas it is important for

us to be reconciled to God. We have learnt from Martin Luther about this petition that God to

. Gregory L. Jones, Embodying Forgiveness: A Theological Analysis, (Michigan:

0

William B. Eerdmans Publishing company, 1995), 8.

0
. Matt 18:15-17

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deal graciously with us. This is core to a Christian. The contemporary church should learn from

the church fathers and Martin Luther on this petition.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kolb, Robert, and Wengert, J. Timothy. The Book of Concord. Translated by Charles

Arand, and William Russell. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000.

Stewart-Sykes, Alistair. Tertullian Cyprian Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer. New York: ST.

Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004.

Thomas, Oden. How Africa shaped the Christian Mind. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2007.

https://africansdahistory.org

Jones, Gregory. “Embodying Forgiveness: A Theological Analysis.” Google Books.

https://books.google.co.ug/books.

Wilhelm, Lohe. “Our Father on the Lord’s Prayer”. Cross road initiative, March 19, 2020.

https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/ourfatheronthelordsprayer

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