Abstract

VAN ECK, E.  and  SAKITEY, D.. Αλλα Ρτσαι Ημας Απο Του Πονηρού (Mat. 6:13b): Reading The Lord's Prayer through Ewe-ghanaian Demono-logical Lens. Acta theol. [online]. 2019, vol.39, n.2, pp.172-186. ISSN 2309-9089.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18820/23099089/actat.v39i2.10.

This article examines the phrase άλλα ροσαι ημάς άπό του πονηρού in Matthew's rendition of the Lord's Prayer through the Ewe-Ghanaian demonological lens. It employs a combination of the historical-critical and indigenous mother tongue biblical hermeneutics methods to address the ambiguity associated with the phrase άπό του πονηρού in the petition. It also engages the world of the text with the Ewe-Ghanaian demonological world view and defines the place of πονηρός (evil/evil one) in Ewe-Ghanaian Christian spirituality. The article discusses the various hermeneutical and theological positions on the text and juxtaposes them with popular Ewe-Ghanaian Christian demonology. The article argues that the aggressiveness with which the Ewe-Ghanaian Christian confronts his/her destiny issues is premised on the primal belief that everyone came to this world with his/her own destiny (gbetsi) or fortune (aklama). However, there are forces that interfere with one's destiny. It is against this backdrop that one must relentlessly wage a spiritual warfare against those forces through not only tumultuous and verbose prayers, but also ritual performances, in order to either protect a good fortune or reverse a bad one. The phrase άλλα ροσαι ήμας άπό του πονηρού (Mat. 6:13b) is, therefore, a call on "Our Father in the heavens" to reverse any misfortune in one's life, in order to fulfil one's destiny in life.

Keywords : The Lord's prayer; Ewe traditional prayer; Evil.

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