Acknowledgments

Introduction
I. The Language of Prayer
II. Public Prayer vs Private Prayer
III. Bodily Gestures
IV. The Way to Pray and the Duration of Prayer
V. The “Pater noster” as a Model
VI. The Division of the “Lord’s Prayer” into Six Petitions

I. The address to the Father: “Our Father in Heaven”
I. Our Father
I.1. Praying in the name of Christ
I.2. The Father’s Kindness
II. Who art in Heaven

II. The first petition: “Hallowed by Thy name”
I. The 1541 – 1557 editions
II. The 1560 edition

III. The second petition: “Thy kingdom come”
I.The Institutes 1541 – 1557 (French) editions
II. The last version of The Institutes (the 1560 French edition)
Conclusion

IV. The third petition: “Thy will be done”
I. The 1541 – 57 editions of the Institutes
I.1. Only God’s Will
I.2. The Devil and the Reprobates
I.3. Our duty and our promise to God
II. The 1560’s edition of the Institutes
II.1. The Will of God, and the Relation between the Third and the Second Petitions
II.2. God’s Secret Will versus the Will indicated in the Third Petition
II.3. God’s Council and the Angel’s role model
II.4. Confessing our natural perversity
III. Conclusion

V. The fourth petition: “Give us this day our daily bread”
I. Tertullian (160 – 220)
II. Origen (182 – 254)
II.1.The symbolic “Bread”
II.2.The variety of “foods” and “needful” (“epiousios”) vs harmful
II.3.The adverb “Daily” in “Give us today our daily bread”
II.4.The word “Today” in “Give us today…”
III. Cyprian (c. 200 – 258)
III.1. From the “spiritual” viewpoint
III.2. From the “material” viewpoint
IV. St Gregory of Nyssa (335 – 395)
IV.1. “Bread”, as a symbol for material life
IV.2. The “Daily Bread” in relation to Righteousness and Hope
V. Augustine (354 – 430)
V.1. The material sense
V.2. The liturgical sense
V.3. The spiritual sense
VI. Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)
VI.1. Only Concerning Our Earthly Life
VI.2. Not Praying for everyone
VI.3. The “Daily Bread” and the “Devil”
VI.4 Conclusion
VII. Jean Calvin
VII.1. The Notion of “Daily Bread”
VII.2. “Materialism” and Human Nature
VII.3. On “Epiousios” (ἐπιούσιος) translated by “Supersubstantial” (supersubstantialis)
VII.4. The meaning of “Our” in “Our Daily Bread”
VII.5. On “This Day” and “Daily”
VII.6. Conclusion

VI. The fifth petition: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”
I. The Relation between the 5th and the 6th Petition
II. On the word “Dette”
III. On the word “Mérite”
IV. Criticism of those who believe in Human Perfection
V. On “As we forgive our debtors”

VII. The sixth petition: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”
I. One or Two Petitions?
II. Augustine’s Interpretation of “Lead us not into temptation”
III. Augustine’s Interpretation of “But Deliver us from Evil”
IV. The Last Petition according to Calvin
IV.1. The Believer’s Constant war against the Devil
IV.2. Various kinds of Temptations
IV.3. Internal Causes or Fleshly Lusts
IV.4. External Causes and Usefulness of Temptations
IV.5. The Devil and its Role
IV.6. God’s Will vs Human’s Will
IV.7. How to Deal with the Original Sin
IV.8. Concluding remarks: around the Letter of James and on God’s Will
V. Conclusion

VIII. Concluding doxology: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen”
Amen

Conclusion

Bibliography (Works Cited)

Index