On Doxologies, the Kingdom, and the Oxford Comma

Last updated on: November 30, 2012 at 1:07 pm by Leah Libresco

On Doxologies, the Kingdom, and the Oxford Comma 2012-11-30T13:07:40-05:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A friend of mine (who you may have seen on this blog as squelchtoad) posed a delightful question on facebook:

The doxology at the end of the Lord’s prayer is often written “For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.” Is it meant to mean “the kingdom, the power, and the glory” or is “the power and the glory” an epithet for “the kingdom”?

Catholics don’t incorporate this doxology into the end of the Lord’s Prayer (though, in the post Vatican II Mass, the laity say it as a separate thing after an interjection by the priest). In some Protestant churches, it’s part and parcel of the prayer. But why have a theological argument through the lens of history and bible scholarship when we can frame it through grammar instead!

I did some poking around, and I couldn’t find an answer to the question. But, in the process, I managed to get the closing song from Pippin stuck in my head, discovered an elevator variant I’d really like to ride, and got this advice from the Fake AP Stylebook: “Use a comma after every item in a list of three or more, but then take back one comma to honor the Hebrew God whose sentence this is.”

I don’t think this is the kind of thing that’s clarified by going back to the Latin, since presumably “kingdom” “power” and “glory” are all in the same case either way. So does anyone have a citation about the interpretation or a way to suss this out?

Two suggestions from the facebook thread (first from a Catholic, than an Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian:

“The power and the glory are really distinct from the kingdom. The kingdom is God’s reign in creatures. The power and the glory are both divine attributes, and thus really identical with God himself. God’s reign is not God, but the providence by which he reigns is God.”

“Google “‘thine is the kingdom’ site:bcponline.org” and you will see that the Oxford comma is most definitely prescribed. One possible justification for this (and keep in mind, I’m just a layman): Christ’s glory shines in his moments of apparent weakness as much as in those of apparent power.”

Parsing Catholicism

open questions

Previous Post

November 30, 2012

7 Quick Book Recommendations

Next Post

December 3, 2012 For I am a Woman Under Authority

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who died at the end of Genesis?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joseph Reuben Jacob Simeon