Latest news with #Lord'sPrayer
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Runes found in Canadian wilderness baffle archaeologists
Archaeologists remain baffled by a surprising, seemingly ahistorical find located deep in the Canadian wilderness. But after years of research, analysis, and historical corroboration, an interdisciplinary team has finally made their findings available to the public. Tucked away in a forest approximately 465 miles northwest of Ottawa, a massive slab of bedrock features a hand-etched rendition of the full Lord's Prayer. But the religious text isn't inscribed in French or English—it's composed of over 250 symbols from the oldest known runic alphabet. The perplexing discovery happened completely by chance, according to the CBC. Hidden for centuries, the stone became exposed only after a tree fell near the town of Wawa, not far from Lake Superior. Closer inspection showed that someone had etched 255 runes into a roughly 4 by 5 foot section of the slab. Additionally, they took time to add a detailed illustration of a boat, an additional 16 runic signs, and 14 X markings. Photos of the site soon wound up in front of Ryan Primrose, president of the Ontario Center for Archaeological Education, who was immediately stunned by the images. 'It's certainly among the least expected discoveries of my career. It's absolutely fascinating,' he told CBC. However, Primrose didn't want anyone jumping to conclusions about the inscription. While it's true that Vikings explored portions of present-day Canada thousands of years ago, he doubted they were responsible for the mystery message. 'We didn't want to release anything publicly until we had done as much analysis as possible,' said Primrose. He soon contacted Uppsala University emeritus professor of runology Henrik Williams, and helped the renowned expert arrange a visit to the site the following October. 'I was under a tarpaulin for three hours with a flashlight, looking at the runes and the others were sitting outside freezing,' recalled Williams. The group's patience and endurance paid off. Williams eventually determined that the message was written with Futhark alphabetic runes. First developed and used by Germanic peoples between the 2nd and 8th centuries CE, Futhark eventually evolved into a simplified version adopted by Scandinavians. Both the Anglo-Saxons and Frisiacs also expanded it into their own variants, but the knowledge of how to read its original iteration died out by the High Middle Ages (around 1000-1300 CE). It wouldn't be until 1865 that Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge finally succeeded in deciphering the long-lost language. People across Europe remained fascinated with runes in the interim, however. During the early 1600s, Swedish polymath (and occultist) Johannes Bureus adopted the symbols into a system that roughly corresponded to his home country's language. This culminated in the publication of a Swedish language Lord's Prayer written with the Futhark runes in 1611. But don't think the Canadian oddity's story ended there. 'This must have been a Swede,' Primrose said of the etcher. 'Were there any Swedes at all here?' Not during the 17th century, according to his research. That said, historical documents confirm that Hudson's Bay Company stationed Swedish workers at trading posts across Canada beginning in the 1800s. And it just so happens that Bureus' runic Lord's Prayer was republished during the 19th century. Taken altogether, Primrose and colleagues now theorize that a Hudson's Bay Company employee—or employees—are responsible for the labor-intensive project that likely took days, if not weeks to complete. The conservationists are now working with the local landowners on a leasehold to turn their archaeological discovery into a public heritage site that includes a protective structure to guard it against the elements. Primrose confessed to being 'a little disappointed' that the artifact is likely only a couple centuries old, but plenty of questions still surround the find. Was the site a place for religious gatherings, or the devotional effort of one person? Prior to its exposure, the bedrock also lay under multiple inches of soil. With no other artifacts found nearby, was the prayer intentionally buried? 'The mystery doesn't fade just because it's younger than we hoped. Why was it carved here? Why this text? There are no answers,' he said. 'And mysteries always draw people in.'
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Mystery of 200-year-old runes found in Canada finally cracked
The runes, numbering 255 in total, were discovered in 2018 when a tree fell and exposed a carefully carved inscription in Ontario, Canada, just 155 miles from the US border Archaeologists have finally cracked a 200 year old code etched into a remote Canadian rock, leaving researchers gobsmacked. The 255 enigmatic symbols were unearthed in 2018 when a tree toppled over and revealed a meticulously carved inscription near the small town of Wawa in Ontario, just 155 miles from the US border in Michigan, according to MailOnline. Now, after years of scrutiny, archaeologist Ryan Primrose from the Ontario Centre for Archaeological Education has disclosed that the markings are actually the Lord's Prayer - penned entirely in Swedish using ancient Nordic runes. The religious message was an unexpected discovery in the Canadian wilderness. However, further probing unveiled that Swedish workers had once been enlisted by the Hudson's Bay Company to staff isolated trading posts in the 1800s - suggesting one of them as the probable author of the carving. With no other artefacts discovered at the site, experts reckon it may have served as a modest outdoor place of worship for the Scandinavian settlers, reports the Express. During the 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company - a massive British fur trading network - was expanding swiftly across North America. To staff remote locations in Canada's interior and the Pacific Northwest, they frequently turned to recruits from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. What is the mysterious slab Mystery surrounds a stone slab found in Manitoba, Canada, featuring ancient carvings within a precise square border three feet by four. Accompanying the inscriptions is an image of a boat circled by 16 figures - thought to represent Swedes travelling to Canada long ago. Primrose shared with CBC that the slab seemed purposefully buried. "There were ruins covered by about six inches of soil," he recounted. Although the wear on the stone hints it might hail from several centuries past, evidence points to Swedish speakers in the area just two centuries ago. Henrik Williams, emeritus professor at Uppsala University, Sweden, highlighted the rarity of runic inscriptions: "Any runic inscription is rare. Someone put all this effort into this particular text and you wonder why. The mystery does not decrease just because of its age." Emphasising his caution, Primrose revealed his delay in announcing the find until the translation was certain. "This is certainly among the least expected finds I have encountered in my career," he conceded. What is The Lord's Prayer? The Lord's Prayer is familiar to Christians worldwide, found in the New Testament in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, summarising vital Christian teachings from begging for daily bread to the significance of pardon and eschewing sin. In the early Christian tradition, it was imparted to new converts and recited during worship. Over time, it became a central part of liturgy across all major branches of Christianity - Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant - earning itself the nickname of the perfect prayer. Translated into numerous languages, the version of the prayer found in Canada is in Swedish, reflecting both religious devotion and cultural identity. Although the Bible was translated into Swedish in 1541, scholars suggest that the use of runes in this inscription might have been a way to honour Scandinavia's linguistic heritage - a remarkable fusion of faith and history etched into stone, waiting to be discovered.
New York Post
6 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Biblical carving discovered near US has experts wondering about possible link to Jesus' death
Archaeologists finally broke the cipher on 255 strange symbols etched into a Canadian rock over 200 years ago — and it's the Lord's Prayer… in Swedish. Discovered in 2018 after a tree fell near Wawa, Ontario (just a stone's throw from Michigan), the bizarre runes had stumped many — until Ryan Primrose from Ontario's archaeology squad swooped in with the scoop. After seven years of trying to decipher what the unusual carving symbolized, Primose finally learned that the etched symbols are part of an alphabet that was used in Scandinavia. And the symbols translated to a 1611 Swedish version of The Lord's Prayer, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. No other fancy artifacts showed up nearby, so Primrose figured the area where this carved rock lay most likely was treated as an outdoor chapel. 3 Primrose has been working on figuring out the mysterious carving since 2018. Ryan Primrose/OCARE The slab also apparently looks like it was deliberately buried, adding a little extra mystery to the mix. In a recent interview with the CBC, Primose explained that the ruins were covered by inches of soil. Henrik Williams, a retired Swedish professor emeritus from Uppsala University, also helped to crack the mystery wide open. He explained to CBC that any 'runic inscription' is 'rare.' Williams added, 'Someone put all this effort into this particular text and you wonder why.' He also noted that the 'mystery does not decrease just because of its age.' Primrose said that he initially held back on spilling the secrets until he was 100% sure the translation was legit. 3 The worn stone looks centuries old— maybe from the 1600s— but the real proof shows Swedish speakers landed here just 200 years ago. Ryan Primrose/OCARE 'This is certainly among the least expected finds I have encountered in my career,' he shared. The Lord's Prayer — known to Christians, Catholics and Bible readers alike — pops up twice in the New Testament: once in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount and again in Luke when a disciple asks Jesus how he is supposed to pray. Speaking of Jesus and his crucifixion, as The Post reported in April, a bombshell NASA find could back up one of the Bible's most vivid scenes — the death and ultimate sacrifice of Christ and the ominous celestial show that followed. NASA's star charts point to a blood-red moon over Jerusalem on April 3, 33 AD — the same date many say Christ was crucified. Sound spooky? It should. 'From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land,' reads one translation of Matthew 27:45 — the gospel verse that describes the otherworldly and eerie skies as Christ hung on the cross. 3 The Lord's Prayer — a staple for Christians, Catholics, and Bible readers — shows up twice in the New Testament: in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount and again in Luke when a disciple asks Jesus how to pray. Ryan Primrose/OCARE 'Christian texts mention that the moon turned to blood after Jesus's crucifixion — potentially referring to a lunar eclipse, during which the moon takes on a reddish hue,' NASA wrote. They explained that their sky-mapping tools traced the ancient eclipse that appeared over Jerusalem just after sunset. Overall, you can call it divine timing — after 200 years, one prayer finally found its voice again.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The faith-related surprise in a new survey on famous quotes
The United Kingdom may no longer be a majority Christian country, but 8 in 10 people there still recognize a famous Christian prayer, according to new research from the Church of England. The survey found that more people in the U.K. recognized an excerpt from the Lord's Prayer than recognized quotes from William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and the British national anthem. 'Overall, the phrase from the Lord's Prayer was recognised correctly by the largest number of people (80.3%), just ahead of Star Wars (79.9%),' per a Church of England press release. The survey, which was fielded by Savanta among more than 2,000 people in the United Kingdom from May 23 to May 26, tested participants' knowledge of popular phrases from religion, sports, politics and culture. People were given seven famous phrases — including 'May the force be with you' from 'Star Wars' — and asked to match them to their source from a list of correct answers. 'Give us this day our daily bread' was the phrase used from the Lord's Prayer. As the press release noted, survey participants were particularly good at recognizing the quotes from religion and pop culture. They were particularly bad at identifying 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,' a quote from Dickens. 'A minority of those surveyed (39%) correctly identified the opening line from Dickens's 'A Tale of Two Cities,'' the Church of England reported. The Lord's Prayer comes from the Bible, where it appears twice: in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. It's widely used in Christianity, but different Christian traditions use slightly different versions of it, in part because of disagreements over how to translate the Bible passages. Here is the text of the traditional version of the Lord's Prayer that's used by the Church of England: 'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.' The new survey also investigated which parts of the Lord's Prayer stand out to people in the U.K. Survey respondents were given the text and asked to identify which lines were most meaningful to them. 'The most commonly selected line was '… and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us' with 43% overall and more than half (56%) of Christians surveyed," the Church of England reported. The Lord's Prayer survey was released just ahead of a new Pew Research Center report showing that Christianity is declining in the United Kingdom. Pew found that the U.K. is one of four countries that stopped being majority Christian from between 2010 and 2020. 'As of 2020, Christians were a majority in 120 countries and territories, down from 124 a decade earlier. Christians dropped below 50% of the population in the United Kingdom (49%), Australia (47%), France (46%) and Uruguay (44%). In each of these places, religiously unaffiliated people now account for 40% or more of the population,' Pew reported.
Belfast Telegraph
07-06-2025
- General
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Lord's Prayer better recognised than national anthem, Churchill or Shakespeare'
The prayer, also known as the Our Father, also appeared better known than a famous line from Star Wars, the words of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and Liverpool football anthem You'll Never Walk Alone, according to the survey. Of just over 2,000 people across the UK asked last month – in polling commissioned by the Church of England – 80.3% correctly recognised the line 'Give us this day our daily bread' was from the ancient prayer. This came just ahead of Star Wars, with 79.9% recognising the line 'May the force be with you' came from the films. Of all those polled, 89% said they had heard of the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, with 88% of those who identified themselves as having no religion still having heard of the prayer. When it came to other famous lines from history, 'To be or not to be' from Shakespeare's Hamlet play was recognised by just under three-quarters (73%) of respondents, while fewer than two thirds (63%) correctly matched the lines 'happy and glorious, long to reign over us' as being from Britain's national anthem, God Save The King. Around six in 10 (61%) respondents recognised the line 'Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few' from Churchill's 1940 speech to MPs in Parliament. More than half (58%) recognised 'You'll never walk alone' as being from the song by Gerry and the Pacemakers, and is the adopted anthem for Liverpool football club. Least well-known of the seven extracts from famous works given were the lines 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, matched correctly by just 39% of people. The findings also showed that 16% of those surveyed said they had not heard of the national anthem lines, while 14% said they had not heard of the line 'You'll never walk alone'. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said the findings suggest the prayer remains a 'steady guide' and something which continues to 'resonate with people of all faiths and none'. Mr Cottrell is leading a 'tour' of events at churches and cathedrals across the north of England as part of his Faith In The North initiative, with a focus on the prayer. He said: 'These results reflect what we've been hearing across the north of England through our Faith In The North initiative, which invites people to explore the Lord's Prayer. 'Though ancient, its words continue to resonate with people of all faiths and none. 'In a world of shifting cultures and changing circumstances, the Lord's Prayer remains a steady guide – perhaps never more so than now. 'Lines like 'Give us this day our daily bread' speak powerfully to today's challenges, reminding us to seek sufficiency, not excess, and to consider what 'enough' truly means.' The polling comes ahead of the Thy Kingdom Come prayer movement finishing this Pentecost Sunday, with events taking place in churches across the globe. – Pollster Savanta interviewed 2,035 UK respondents online between May 23 and 26 and said data was weighted to be representative of the general public by age, gender, region and ethnicity.
