The Word "evil" in the Lord's Prayer

Question:

I am a member of the Unity Church, Center for Positive Living in Centralia, Washington. At our last Sunday service there was a discussion regarding the use of the word evil in the Lord's Prayer. It was brought up that we should replace the word evil. I would like to know what the Unity Church interpretation of the Lord's Prayer is and Unity’s position on the word "evil.” My feeling is, leave it as it is, since it is not a personification of evil or evil entity ... it just means “bad.”

Comment:

I'm attaching an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer that I have used several times in the course of answering these Bible questions. [See previous “Interpret This” entries that include Rev. Ed’s interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer.] That may be helpful. As to the word evil, I would agree with you—although no English word can express the Aramaic with complete accuracy. At the church I serve—Unity of Greater Hartford—a previous minister replaced the word evil with error. "Deliver us from error" works equally well for me, so I haven't questioned it. It only becomes an issue, I think, when we are communicating with those on other Christian paths. If they think we're rewriting the Bible to suit ourselves, it makes it much more difficult to emphasize our shared beliefs.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed