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Darlene
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 868 |
| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 01:24 pm |
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Think of me as ignorant or just plain ditsy, but today I wondered for the first time, where did Christians get the tradition (?) of saying "Amen" after praying? Protestants, esp. Baptists, love to say "Amen" quite a bit, and not always after prayer. They esp. like to say "Amen and Amen," twice for some reason, after praying corporately.
So, where did this practice of saying "Amen" come from? It's probably some elementary answer that a grade school kid could tell me. 
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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CajunRick
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5080 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 01:30 pm |
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Darlene wrote: So, where did this practice of saying "Amen" come from? It's probably some elementary answer that a grade school kid could tell me.
It's actually a very good question.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says:
The word Amen is one of a small number of Hebrew words which have been imported unchanged into the liturgy of the Church, propter sanctiorem as St. Augustine expresses it, in virtue of an exceptionally sacred example. "So frequent was this Hebrew in the mouth of Our Saviour", observes the Catechism of the Council of Trent, "that it pleased the Holy Ghost to have it perpetuated in the Church of God". In point of fact St. Matthew attributes it to Our Lord twenty-eight times, and St. John in its doubled form twenty-six times. As regards the etymology, Amen is a derivative from the Hebrew verb aman "to strengthen" or "Confirm".
Read the entire article here.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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David W. Emery
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 1792 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 04:33 pm |
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In ancient Israel, prayer was mostly a public function. The priest (and later the rabbi) would offer a prayer and the congregation would respond with “Amen” as an affirmation. (See examples in Deuteronomy 27:15–26, 1 Chronicles 16:35–36, Nehemiah 5:13 and 1 Corinthians 14:16.) Literally, the Hebrew interjection “amen” (or as an adverb, “amenam”) signifies assent or, in context, an emphatic affirmation, something like “assuredly,” as Jesus says in numerous places, “Amen I say to you.…” The use of “Amen” as an appropriate ending to prayers is ubiquitous throughout the New Testament, especially with St. Paul.
The phrase “Amen and amen” occurs at the end of Psalm 41 and again at the end of Psalms 72 and 89 as part of doxologies closing out three of the five “books” of psalms, the five divisions being in imitation of the Pentateuch, the five books of the Law.
David
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Darlene
Member
| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 868 |
| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Mon Apr 30th, 2007 08:00 pm |
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Thanks, David and Rick. Both of you have been very helpful. The question arose in my mind while thinking about some Christian traditions that Protestants hold to. Protestants, who claim to be adamantly against "tradition" still hold to certain traditions. Hmmm....
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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